A Sticky Situation
by Fergus Flamacron
Summary: Terriermon and Renamon have never really been close friends. But when the Digimon discover a way to return to their Tamers, something happens that draw the two close together. Literally. Title doesn't really apply anymore, but hey, what can you do?
1. A Way Home

This is not a story I expect many people to read. Most people have an opinion that a fanfic featuring Renamon means she should be partnered with Guilmon, Impmon, or perhaps Cyberdramon, and the only Terriermon fanfics I've seen have been with Lopmon and there are hardly any of those. I am actually the same, but I chose to make this a Renamon and Terriermon fanfic because the initial part of this story popped randomly into my head during the flash of weird imagination I get whenever I wake up. It was such an odd idea that I could not leave it alone and decided to write this silly story. I hope you enjoy the ride, even if you don't enjoy the pairing.

The usual disclaimer:- Only the idea is mine – no human or Digimon character will be an OC. I don't own Digimon and never will.

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 1:- A Way Home**

The Digital World was a silent place. It was still rebuilding itself from the ravaging it had undergone from the assault by the D-Reaper. The Sovereigns and those digimon that had survived were working hard to restore everything to the way it had been, or at least as close as it could be. The ravages of the D-Reaper had destroyed a good ninety percent of the Digital World, not to mention an enormous number of the digimon, even many of the megas that had faced it with the sovereigns.

But slowly everything was coming back into place and new digimon were beginning to spring from the Digi-Eggs that Ebonwumon and Azulongmon has spread across the seven levels of the Digital World. Happiness was back in the air as the forests refilled with croaking Gekomon, the Hagurumon worked in the clock layer, and Jijimon and Babamon began to fight one another again.

But there was one group of Digimon, who were not happy. They sat in a circle in the harsh desert landscape, hardly ever talking, and watching the data streams flit by. These digimon had once belonged to the Tamers, human children, with the power to make digimon digivolve and even merge with them to create a powerful Mega-Level form.

Guilmon, cute and playful dinosaur. Terriermon, laid back and comedic dog-rabbit. Renamon, strong and serious fox. Impmon, mischievous and loud imp. Calumon, simple and sweet Catalyst. Monodramon, curious and inquisitive dragon. Lopmon, polite and caring dog-rabbit. Guardromon, gallant and true robot, and MarineAngemon, tiny and quiet fairy-thing. This was the group of friends who have braved the D-Reaper's single-minded desire to destroy everything and had won against the massive red blob of chaos.

But at a cost they had not considered.

They had been pulled back into the Digital World and away from their beloved partners, against their will and theirs by Operation Doodlebug, a program which had reversed the evolution of the D-Reaper but sent the digimon back. Each and every one of the nine digimon had vowed to get back to the Digimon Tamers, not matter how long they had to search for a way to get there. Terriermon had also vowed to give the Monster Makers a severe talking down for they had placed Operation Doodlebug inside him, without telling them everything that would happen.

The problem was the majority of the digimon that had travelled to the human world had done it when they got their tamer or by accident. So unless they could accidentally stumble upon the road to it, they could be here for a while.

Guilmon sighed. He stared into the flames they sat around, which had been lit by Impmon using his Bada Boom attack. He had made Takato promise that one day he would play and eat bread together again. With his naïve mind, he had expected it to be a week or so. It had now been almost twelve months. A whole year without Takato. A whole year without bread. He wondered how he'd managed it.

"Stop being so down, Pineapple-head," said Impmon, flicking another small blob of flame on the diminishing camp-fire. "It's making the rest of us depressed. Even the cream-puff is feeling down 'cause of your moping about."

"Sorry," mumbled Guilmon. "I can't help it."

"You could try and think of something else, other than Takato," said Impmon.

"And you're not thinking of Ai and Mako?" asked Monodramon, suspiciously.

"Yeah, so?" he retorted. "I'm not moping. They wouldn't want me too. But I suppose Takato is moping around too. He always moped about something or other, many of them his fault."

Guilmon growled.

"It's true," said Impmon.

Guilmon stood up, claws splayed. Another member stood up too – Lopmon. She got between the two of them. "Please," she said. "Don't fight each other. We need to stick together. Guilmon, don't let him wind you up. Impmon, stop trying to do it. I don't like it when anybody fights. It isn't good for us. It isn't good for our morale."

"Yeah, Momentai, guys," said Terriermon from his rock.

All eyes flicked towards Renamon, who scowled slightly for a second. Momentai was a word that Terriermon said at least five times a day. It was a Cantonese word he had learnt from his Tamer, Henry, that meant "Take it easy." Some of them, Guilmon and Lopmon included, found the word to be rather soothing, knowing Terriermon meant well by it.

Renamon, on the other hand, found it incredibly irritating. It was like a fly she longed to swat, but couldn't. She was a very patient Digimon, but that patience was running thin after about a year of that word hitting her eardrums many times a day. It hadn't been so bad when she lived with Rika, she could escape it then. But now she was in his presence twenty four-seven. It grated on her ears every time she heard it. She was like Rika in that respect.

Lopmon continued to look imploringly between the two. Guilmon's eyes, which had narrowed with anger so he was close to his feral state, softened at the pleading look on her face. There was an innocence about Lopmon, perhaps it had come from her Tamer, Suzie. Nobody like to see her unhappy, anymore than they were immune to the child-like nature of Calumon.

Guilmon sat down again and Lopmon retook her seat, sending a meaningful glance at Impmon, who lowered his eyes guiltily.

"Shall we go over our options one more time?" asked Guardromon.

"Okay," said Monodramon.

They had been going through the same options almost every day for the last month, over and over. All of them seemed hopeless and they all hoped that if they all puzzled about it, one of them might suddenly think of an idea that had not occurred to any of them.

"We could ask one of the Sovereigns. They got into the human world once," continued Monodramon.

"We can't ask Zhuqiaomon. He'd laugh at us," said Terriermon. "Even though Lopmon used to be one of his number."

"And I don't know the way to the castle of any of them now," added Lopmon. "The entire Digital World has changed in its reformatting."

"And there's no telling where the Data Streams will send us," said Impmon.

"And that time they entered our world was through a hole carved by the D-Reaper and opened by MegaGargomon," finished Guilmon.

"Thank you," Terriermon took a fake bow, causing a couple of snickers, as he made it ridiculously low so his nose almost went past his feet.

"We find digimon went to Human World. Ask how," said MarineAngemon, in one of the longest sentences he had ever said.

(A/N: Contrary to popular belief, MarineAngemon can say more than his attack, Poo, and Pi.)

"But I don't think they'd be very helpful to us since we deleted them," said Renamon.

"Yeah, I can't imagine Gorillamon being all that helpful if we met him. He probably still bears a grudge against us, huh Guilmon," said Terriermon. Guilmon nodded.

"And many got there by accident anyway," continued Renamon.

"We could ask a Digi-Gnome," said Guardromon.

"But we ain't seen any of 'em," said Impmon. "Most of them died."

"Or we could continue searching fruitlessly for a portal that probably doesn't exist and hope we strike lucky," ended Monodramon.

Calumon whined, his ears retracted. Even though he didn't have a Tamer, he still missed all of them, especially Jeri, followed by Takato as his bakery produced a stream of his favourite cream puffs. All of them missed Takato's bread, except Guardromon, who had never actually eaten it.

"Bit pessimistic, Monodramon," said Terriermon. "Momentai."

Renamon's eye twitched but otherwise her face remained calm. Only Terriermon seemed to be unaware of the way he annoyed her.

"He's walking on thin ice," Impmon muttered to Guilmon, who nodded.

_If he says that one more time, _Renamon was thinking. _I am not going to be able to restrain myself from attacking him._

"You reckon we could find something to eat?" asked Calumon, hopefully.

"You don't need to eat here, Calumon," said Renamon, knowing the little Catalyst wouldn't listen to her.

"I know, but it makes me feel better."

He looked up with large baby eyes. Renamon sighed and stood up. She shifted away in a blur. Five minutes later, she reappeared with slightly wet gloves carrying two large fish.

Without a word, Impmon stoked the fire with a couple more attacks and Guilmon picked up a nearby piece of bark they had prized off a tree. Lopmon and Terriermon piled some rocks and Guilmon set the tray on them over the fire. Renamon placed down the fish and they waited.

Once cooked, Guilmon cut them into chunks with his claws and everyone except Guardromon, who couldn't eat anyway, took a piece of varying size depending on their appetites – Guilmon, Terriermon and Impmon having the biggest pieces, Calumon and Monodramon not far behind, and Renamon, Lopmon and MarineAngemon with smaller pieces.

Renamon stood and started to walk away. She never ate with them, but by herself and she forbade anyone from going near her. Guilmon and Terriermon remembered the time they and their Tamers and the parents of their Tamers had eaten together. Renamon had refused to eat at the same table, she had a small table all to herself, and she wouldn't explain why.

"Hey, Renamon," called Terriermon, with his mouth half full. "Where are you going?"

"Over there," she answered tersely.

"Why do you never eat with us?" he asked. "You're very antisocial at mealtimes. You're all tense. You should take my most common advice more than anyone else here. Momentai, Renamon. Momentai."

Renamon snapped.

"Terriermon, shh," said Guilmon. But it was too late. The fact that he had said it twice was even worse. Renamon whirled around, sending her portion of fish flying. It struck Guardromon in the chest and fell to the ground. Renamon glared daggers at the little bunny, not noticing.

"That's it!" she shouted. Terriermon looked startled. _Jeez, what's eating her? What did I do? Was it something I said?_ He found out the answers to his mental questions immediately after and it was not what he'd been expecting.

"That word of yours is infuriating you little rabbit, as are you! You're the most irritating being I have ever had the misfortune to meet! You take nothing seriously and your so-called advice is just a word that you happen to like which seems to fit! But it doesn't! You've been saying the same god damn word all year and its on my nerves. You're worse than the D-Reaper, or even Kazu and Kenta, combined!"

"Go easy on Kazu, milady," said Guardromon. MarineAngemon glared. Renamon ignored them both. Right now, everyone other than the pest didn't matter.

"You're child-like and irresponsible and you have been since the day I met you! You've had a whole year-and-a-half to find something new to say, but no! You've continued going on and on and on with… that word! It's maddening!"

Terriermon was staring at her in horror. His mouth fell open as the fox vented a whole year's worth of aggravation on him. _Maddening? What was wrong with it?_

"It wasn't that annoying, was it?" he tried. But he already knew the answer to that. He had never seen Renamon fly off the handle like this before, not at anyone, even Beelzemon when he had been bad. It was usually Guilmon that went feral on things, not helped by his emotion-racked, confused Tamer.

"Not annoying? Now, _that's_ funny!" she snarled back. "You're just a pain in the neck, Terriermon! That's all you are! A trying, little parasite that I can't get rid of!"

She was enjoying the look of shock and hurt on Terriermon's face. _Now he realises. Ha, maybe this'll teach him just the lesson he needs._

"Renamon, calm down," Lopmon said.

"Keep out of this!" snapped Renamon. Lopmon recoiled, her eyes getting wet.

"Don't start on her!" Terriermon glared angrily, getting to his feet. He could take yelling at him but not Lopmon.

"What are you going to do about it?" growled the fox.

It felt like bile was rising in Terriermon's gut. _How dare she! Expecting everyone to behave the way she wanted. And yelling at Loppy? She's never done anything bad to anyone, not even when she was a Deva._ Then and there, Terriermon decided he was not going to take this lying down.

"You think I'm an annoying little wretch then, huh?" Terriermon growled back. "Well, I'll tell you what I think of you then, shall I?"

Renamon's eyes widened as Terriermon began a tirade of his own.

"You're an arrogant bitch, Renamon! You think you're superior to us don't you? Acting all high and mighty, all the time, like you're the leader or something, but you're not! You go over and eat by yourself! What do you think you are? A queen not wanting to dine with commoners? That's rich!"

It was Renamon's turn to be startled. Terriermon never yelled at anyone either. He would usually tell them to calm down, with his own stupid word, of course. He was still going.

"You're a haughty, stuck up female, just like Rika!"

Now, that was going too far.

"Leave Rika out of this!" Renamon barked. "And you don't know me!"

"Why? She's the same. She never liked me, either! And maybe I'd know more about you if you bothered to tell us! A proud, egotistical, condescending, supercilious bitch, is all I know about you!"

"Since when did you read a dictionary?"

"I don't, but I'm a lot cleverer than you give me credit for."

"Well, I happen to have a few choice words for you, Terriermon. You're a frustrating, galling, irksome, exasperating little idiot. You act younger than Ai and Mako."

"You know, I was wrong! You're not like Rika! You're worse!"

"I thought I told you to leave Rika out of this!"

"Oh, it's your Tamer and your Tamer only that's important, is it? You've had a go at Kazu and Kenta, already. You leave them out of it!"

The two of them had been getting closer to each other during the course of this battle of words. Terriermon clambered onto a pile of boulders so their eyes were level. Now they were only a few inches apart and you could almost see sparks between them. The others stayed out of it – none of them wanted to aggravate either. Lopmon's lip was trembling.

"I would have thought that the sense your Tamer has would have rubbed of on you. How he managed to live with you without snapping is beyond me!"

"You're the only one who has a problem with me. Anyway, do you mean all those things you just said, or is it just the word that you hate?"

"I mean every word that has come from my mouth in this argument!"

"Then it looks like my first impressions of you were correct after all! Everyone else here, except Impmon, gave off great first impressions, but I thought you were a bitch back then and it looks like I was right!"

"I'll admit I was not the most pleasant of Digimon when we first met, but I changed. You, on the other hand, have always been the same little inconvenience. A little whelp who thinks he's funny, but isn't."

"Inconvenience was I, when I took out Pajiramon? When I help you guys against Gulfmon? When I saved Suzie and Lopmon from Caturamon? When I stopped Zhuqiaomon from frying your sorry ass? When I got us out of the D-Reaper? When I reversed its evolution?"

"You're an inconvenience to me now. Whenever I hear you speak I have a sudden urge to find a cliff and push you off it!"

"Death threats, huh? Now why is that not surprising? That's always your first thought, kill it and then Rika will be happy, 'cause she's as bloodthirsty as I am."

Renamon's fist lashed out and connected with Terriermon's cheek, sending him flying backwards. Guilmon grabbed him from mid-air in one clawed hand.

Renamon looked mutinous.

Terriermon rubbed his cheek and struggled to get out of Guilmon's grip.

Guardromon stepped between the two.

Monodramon and Impmon stared with open mouths.

Calumon burst into tears, shortly followed by Lopmon.

That ended the argument as quickly as it had begun. The two combatants seemed to have forgotten that they'd had an audience. Terriermon shot an accusatory glare at Renamon and then leapt from Guilmon's hand, turned his back contemptuously on Renamon and went to comfort Lopmon, as Guilmon picked up Calumon and put him on his shoulder.

"There, there, Loppy," said Terriermon. "Momentai."

Renamon gritted her teeth. He had done that on purpose and she knew it. Her paw was itching to throw something at him, preferably one of the diamonds she could conjure from mid-air. But she refrained from doing so. She just clenched her fists so hard her claws cut into her paws.

Then she noticed the others were glancing slightly angrily at her. She suddenly felt very ashamed of herself. She had insulted two of their Tamers and she suddenly realised that some of the things she'd accused Terriermon of being applied to some of the others too. Not to mention she had shouted at Lopmon.

And she'd hit him. She hadn't meant for things to go that far.

_But he was insulting Rika,_ she reasoned with herself. _He cannot be allowed to get away with that._

But she said nothing. She turned with a swish of her tail and stalked off, sitting down quite a way away. She could practically feel Terriermon's blazing eyes on her back but refused to turn around. She realised she has never seen Terriermon get so angry. But that just made her feel satisfied that she'd gotten a rise out of him.

Terriermon's eyes were indeed fixed at her retreating back. His eyes were filled with anger, but if Renamon had turned around, she would have seen that they also contained a large portion of hurt. He rubbed his cheek which was now sporting a nasty bruise.

_She hit me. I can't believe it. She just decked me. Am I really that annoying?_

The thought plagued him for the rest of the day. Darkness washed over them as quickly as ever and still Terriermon wondered if he ought to dial it down a little.

For the first time in his entire life, Terriermon found himself slightly depressed.

Lopmon had been right. Fighting was not good for morale.

Renamon didn't return to the others that night. She rarely ever slept, so she silently contemplated the sleeping group. Only Guardromon remained awake other than her and she saw him flick half-angry, half-guilty looks her way now and again. That was just like Guardromon, really. He was very gallant.

She herself kept glancing at the sleeping Terriermon. He actually did look very sweet when asleep. He was curled up with one ear comfortingly wrapped around Lopmon and the other being used by Calumon as a blanket.

Dawn came in the usual split-second change. The others began to awake but didn't move towards her, perhaps fearing that she was still angry. She saw Lopmon chewing her own lip, anxious, it seemed, for the group to get along, but unsure how to go about it. Terriermon refused to look in her direction.

_I should have expected this,_ she thought. _Now they'll all be wondering if my temper is still high and that I'll strike at them next. I wish I hadn't hit him. I've lost his friendship and possibly the friendship of some of the others._

Terriermon had been right about one thing. She was very unsociable, whereas he was well liked by most of the others. She had a nagging feeling that if there were any further conflict between herself and him, then the group would be divided and Terriermon's half would almost certainly be bigger. After all, he hadn't lashed out at her first, verbally or physically.

With this thought in mind, Renamon stood and walked over to them.

They all immediately tensed and waited with baited breath to see what was coming and Terriermon stared irresolutely at the horizon. The fox walked through the middle of the group to stand behind the rabbit.

It took considerable effort, but Renamon, eventually said to the back of his head, "Sorry. I shouldn't have flown off the handle yesterday."

"No, you shouldn't," said Terriermon, still not turning around. Renamon wished he'd turn around so she could say it his face.

"So, are you going to go back on what you said?" asked the bunny. "Did you mean all that stuff you said?"

Renamon was silent for a while, before slowly saying. "You are not… what I said… all the time. But what I said is often true. At least, it is for me."

Terriermon did not reply.

"Did you hear me?" asked Renamon.

"Yeah, I heard."

There was a faint patting noise, but Renamon's keen hearing picked it up. Looking down she saw that the rock by Terriermon's right foot had a small splodge of water on it. It was shortly followed by another and then one appeared by the other foot. Terriermon was crying.

That shocked her more than anything. Terriermon never cried. Ever. He had come close when Zhuqiaomon had beaten him up, and of course when they had been separated from their Tamers. But he'd never gone past the point of wet eyes. The constant pretending to be a doll and withstanding the abuse the Suzie had unknowingly put upon him without reacting too much had toughened him up in that respect.

She must have really shaken him up. But then, she had insulted almost everything about him that he considered assets: - his easy-going nature, his wit and his catchphrase, along with a couple of other things.

"I suppose, it's better than nothing," said Terriermon, "but I would have preferred it if we hadn't had that … discussion. I don't think we'll be able to talk properly again for a while."

Renamon blinked and said "Sorry," once more. Terriermon half-turned to look at her. His left cheek was hideously purple where she had hit him.

Renamon didn't want to look at it. She turned away and began to apologise to Lopmon, who had been standing on the sidelines, ready to intervene if things started up again.

Terriermon was actually feeling worse than he ever had in his whole life, worse than when Zhuqiaomon burned him up, or when Caturamon smashed him with his attack. Even when he had been separated from Henry he had not been too worried. He had been confident they'd find a way back soon. He had been wrong. The combination of this and his recent argument took a toll on even him.

His stomach clenched as he remembered who had brought him back up from the chasm where Caturamon had smashed him. Renamon. He had considered her a friend, more then than ever. She had gently picked him up and told him he'd be okay. She'd even cradled him slightly. It almost felt like Henry.

He also remembered the time before the final battle with the D-Reaper where he had leapt from Guilmon's head onto her shoulder and wrapped on ear around her head. She had even laughed, if was just a chuckle, at his antics then. So what had changed? Why was she now so openly hostile?

Was it that she was apart from Rika and falling back into her old ways? He hoped not. A relapse was the last thing they needed. But he didn't think that was true. She had apologised. That would not have happened if she were relapsing.

Or was it true? Did he use the word "Momentai," too much? Nobody else complained, except perhaps Rika when she'd been around, or were they just too polite to say anything about it?

They began to trek again, just as they'd done every day for months and months now, each one keeping an eye out for what could potentially be a way back hope. Calumon, Guardromon and MarineAngemon took to the skies, as did Impmon, who didn't actually need a Tamer to digivolve and so could still become Beelzemon Blast Mode, which had been a real asset at times.

Terriermon walked up the front with Guilmon, both of them talking quietly. Renamon was at the back. Monodramon and Lopmon walked silently in between the two. Renamon's hearing was keen and she could pick up snatches of the conversation being held between the dinosaur and the rabbit and although her name wasn't mentioned, it was fairly obvious about who they were talking about.

"…sure she didn't mean it, Terriermon."

"You don't know that. She can be hard to read at times…like that before…serious or not."

"Yeah, but…our friend. She's…for us before…that."

"Well, what's your…you think along the same lines, or…her?"

"I don't…annoying, but…don't know why. I'm not her."

"What should I do?"

"You could…"

But the rest of Guilmon's suggestion didn't reach her ears.

"You do know…hard, right?" said Terriermon.

"Yeah, but Lopmon's right…together."

"…suppose."

Renamon frowned. What had Guilmon suggested.

"…tata," she heard Guilmon say. For some reason, whatever he had said made Lopmon, who was closer and had even better hearing than Renamon, giggle.

"Say what?"

"Ha… Takato watched…"

"…remember that, but it'll never…"

"Give it…"

Renamon felt rather lost. She had been able to follow the line of conversation and fill in the gaps earlier. But now she was confused.

_Perhaps I didn't apologise properly this morning,_ she thought. _But still, he did insult Rika. And bitch is a strong word to use. Ugh, what'll happen next?_

Terriermon knew Renamon was listening. He didn't need to turn around to know that. He just could feel it. He wondered if she was listening to see if he said "Momentai," again. But, so far, he hadn't. He didn't want to risk another punch to his other cheek.

Guilmon's suggestion about what to do was one that he did not particularly think would work, at least not for long. He was bound to slip up at some point and probably relatively soon.

But he really couldn't afford to be enemies with Renamon. But then, so far as he knew, she was actually a very forgiving Digimon. After Beelzemon had destroyed Leomon and in turn been defeated by Gallantmon, it had been Renamon that had gone after him and forgiven him, bringing him back with them to the human world.

This was a nice thought. Perhaps he wouldn't actually need this new solution for long. He hoped that Renamon would forgive him as easily.

He turned around to look at Renamon.

He was surprised to find that she was staring at the back of his head, which was now his face. She normally stared across the landscape in search of a portal or any other way home.

Their eyes locked.

They both quickly looked away.

Terriermon felt a flush creep to his cheeks and his bruise went even more purple. He felt like he'd been caught in the act.

Renamon wondered what sort of plan Guilmon had come up with.

The four airborne Digimon descended at around midday. "Nothing whatsoever," said Beelzemon. "Like normal."

"You really think we'll ever see them again?" asked Calumon, retracting his ears.

"Of course, Takato promised," said Guilmon.

"What if he breaks his promise?" Calumon wailed.

"Ssshhh," soothed Lopmon, taking over as a foster-mother again. "Don't worry. We'll be fine."

"Mo- er," Terriermon glanced at Renamon, then Guilmon, who nodded.

"Hakuna Matata, Calumon," said Terriermon.

Everyone turned to look at him. "What?" he asked defiantly.

"What did that mean?" asked Monodramon.

"It meant "No worries." Wasn't it obvious?" asked Terriermon.

"I thought your word was…" Guardromon trailed off, looking at Renamon through the corner of one eye.

"Nah. Time for a change."

"What language was it?" asked Beelzemon.

"African," said Terriermon. "I think. I got it from a Disney Film I watched once."

Renamon was just staring. So that was Guilmon's idea. And it explained why Lopmon laughed. She must have heard of it from Suzie.

But still…

Terriermon was making an effort not to annoy her again. Granted, it was not his idea, but he was trying. Momentai was _his_ word. Nobody had ever been able to stop him from using it, not even Rika with her threats of beating him over the head with a cricket bat.

She bit her lip, guiltily.

"Now, that that's over and done with," said Terriermon. "What now? Same routine as usual? Sit and be bored and then walk and be bored?"

"Looks like it," said Beelzemon as he de-digivolved back into Impmon.

They sat around. Renamon caught Terriermon glancing at her just to check if she was mad about the new word and found it as irritating as the last. Now she thought of it, she could never remember Terriermon crying before. He was usually very upbeat. She really had been harsh.

But they would never see eye to eye, she told herself. They'd never be best friends. Terriermon could be very annoying when he wanted to be and even when he didn't.

But he was trying.

She was certainly beginning to regret hitting him with her harsh and angry words.

But he had responded with equally harsh and angry words.

And he hadn't apologised.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. He'd called her a supercilious bitch and hadn't said sorry. How dare he? He was so worried about her annoyance at him, but not vice versa.

The thought incensed her and she prepared to rise and shout at him again.

But she then remembered how that would divide the group. She looked at the others. Terriermon was friendlier and more fun, so Guilmon and Calumon would take his side. She had insulted Kazu and Kenta, so Guardromon and MarineAngemon would take his side. Monodramon, she wasn't sure about him, but if they got back to the human world, he would take his side because Rika did not like his Tamer.

Impmon might take her side. She had helped him, forgiven him for the terrible things he had done. Maybe he'd do the same.

Lopmon would try and keep a foot in both camps.

So she resolved to demand an apology instead of insult him again.

But then she heard him yelp loudly. She sprang up ready to face a threat, as did many others, but there was nothing to fight. But Terriermon was looking at the sky. He was so excited, he forgot his new resolution and said, "Momentai, guys" – (Renamon fought hard not to change her expression), "but either that's a Digi-Gnome or I'm a frog." He pointed up at the sky.

Everyone immediately turned to look. There, flying high above them like the pixie creature that it was, was a creature, glowing white, rounded head, winged and chirping as it went.

Terriermon had been one-hundred percent correct.

A Digi-Gnome was flying above them.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

The first thing I want to say is I do not want any flames on the future pairing. I am quite aware it is not "the norm," but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. If there are any constructive reviews that can be given then I wouldn't mind that.

Next time…

Will they catch the Digi-Gnome and return home? Will Terriermon and Renamon form a truce or have another argument?

Coming up:- **Chapter 2 : Unwanted Company**


	2. Unwanted Company

Questions that you had at the end of the last chapter may or may not yet be answered, but I do promise that the odd idea which came to my head will be revealed at the end of this chapter for those who have not figured it out yet.

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 2:- Unwanted Company**

Renamon instantly forgot her argument with Terriermon as she caught sight of the Digi-Gnome above them. Here, at last, was a chance for her to get back to her Tamer, a chance for all of them to go back, and any quarrels were dispelled for the time being.

There was no time to lose. The Digi-Gnome was passing right over them and would keep going unless they intercepted it.

"Quick, Calumon and MarineAngemon, we can't let it go by. You guys have to go up and ask it to come down," she said.

Terriermon did not question the fact she was giving orders.

Calumon's ears expanded and he and the tiny mega took to the air and headed for the flying pixie-like creature. Its head swivelled to look at them, giggling as they approached.

It seemed to recognise Calumon and headed for him.

"Hiya, Glowy Guy," said Calumon happily as the Digi-Gnome began to circle him. He giggled. "You're funny. Do you want to play? Please?"

MarineAngemon rolled his eyes. It was just like Calumon to forget what they were doing and try to play.

He floated over and said, "No play."

"Huh?" asked Calumon. "Why not?"

"Wish," said MarineAngemon, pointing down at the anxious crowd below, staring up and wondering what was going on.

"Oh yeah," laughed Calumon.

The Digi-Gnome stopped circling and simply began to stare curiously at its two airborne companions. It chose to focus on Calumon, staring into his face and cocking its head. Calumon laughed again, because that was him. It was either laughter, or depression or panic.

"We have a wish. Can you come down? Please, please, pleasepleaseplease, please with a cream puff on top, pretty please."

The Digi-Gnome silently regarded Calumon as the tiny In-Training digimon began to cycle through every possible form of the word "Please" he could think of.

"…Super, ginormous please? Please smothered in Guilmon bread. Please…"

The Digi-Gnome's attention moved from Calumon to MarineAngemon. It cocked its head a second time, as if enquiring if MarineAngemon had an ulterior motive.

MarineAngemon nodded in confirmation and said "Please."

The Digi-Gnome giggled. MarineAngemon remembered that they had granted the wish of Azulongmon to create Calumon in the first place. Perhaps it was because they were so incredibly gigglish and playful that Calumon was, as if they'd poured a little of themselves into the catalyst, including his ability to fly without wings.

Abruptly the Digi-Gnome began to go lower in wide circles. Calumon cheered and MarineAngemon peeped in relief and flew down to rejoin the throng of digimon below them.

All of them stared up at the descending Digi-Gnome until it was going around and around them. It stopped in front of Guilmon and stared into his yellow eyes.

"Hello," said Guilmon, waving at the little newcomer. "You guys grant wishes, right?"

"Only if our hearts are really in it," said Renamon. "And the wish to get back to my Tamer is my only wish."

The Digi-Gnome turned to look at her and glided over and stared into her eyes instead. Even Renamon, whose piercing blue eyes could unnerve most champions, was herself slightly put out by the Digi-Gnome. It wasn't an unfriendly stare that it was giving her, but it felt like it was looking into her very soul.

_Well, that makes sense,_ she thought to herself. _After all, how else could they tell if your heart was really into that wish?_

But it was still slightly scary. The Renamon species has secrets that they only entrust to a certain few. She was sure that the Digi-Gnome knew about them though.

Despite this, Renamon matched the stare and spread her arms wide in a gesture that suggested she had nothing whatsoever to hide from it.

"I implore of you, Digi-Gnome. We wish to return to the human world and be reunited with each of our Tamers, our friends and partners."

The Digi-Gnome circled her once, and then went to each of the others and circled them in turn. It was probably trying to see whether Renamon's wish really did apply to them all.

"Oh typical," said Impmon, suddenly. "You wait forever for a Digi-Gnome to turn up and then suddenly two turn up at once."

Many heads swung in his direction. He was correct. The first Digi-Gnome was studying Monodramon, but now there was another one circling Impmon.

"Actually, there's three," said Terriermon as another appeared out of nowhere.

"Four," said Monodramon, indicating another approaching one.

"My sensors say nine," said Guardromon.

"Nine!" blurted Terriermon. "What, one for each of us? And where on the Digital World have they all come from?"

"You reckon the first one summoned them?" asked Guilmon.

"No other explanation comes to mind, Pineapple-Head," said Impmon.

"Now what's it doing?" asked Lopmon, pointing at the first Digi-Gnome, which had just finished studying her. It was starting to glow with a bright white energy. It giggled again, and then it flew off, beginning to circle the entire group once more. The other eight joined it, copying everything it did from the movements to the glowing.

"This looks familiar," said Calumon.

"You reckon they'll do it?" asked Impmon.

"I hope so," said Monodramon.

"Momentai, you two. Of course they'll do it," said Guess Who. Renamon growled quietly and swished her tail, glancing at him through the corner of her eye.

The Digi-Gnomes suddenly chirped to each other and picked up the pace, leaving a trail of white light behind them until it surrounded the small group like a wall. They could see nothing beyond the cylinder of light, except the sky and the Planet Earth through the hole in the top. They all drew back from the walls of light, as if they were afraid that they would scorch them.

And suddenly, gravity seemed to be thrown out of whack.

All nine of them were lifted of their feet and then shot into the sky unceremoniously, tumbling head over heels and side to side, a couple of them wailing as they went and colliding with each other, except for MarineAngemon, who went weaving between them, but unable to go down.

"What's happening?" cried Guilmon.

"We're heading upwards," answered Monodramon. "Towards the human world."

"Couldn't they have made it an easier ride?" shouted Lopmon.

"This is not fun!" cried Calumon.

There were other cries from the others, but Renamon remained stoically silent. Impmon was yelling to Ai and Mako, while Guardromon faithfully grabbed Calumon and tried to calm him down.

Then came the sudden word which Renamon knew would be coming:-

"MOMENTAI!"

Renamon swung round to yell at the little bunny in mid-flight.

But at that precise moment, there was a colossal explosion as they broke through the Digital Barrier and they all went hurtling in a different direction. Then, each of them hit something which seemed to suck them through a vortex and vanish.

Terriermon watched as all of his friends were pulled through vortexes until he was the last one left. He glanced at the spot where Renamon had disappeared. She had seen her reaction when he had said the word and mentally cursed himself for saying the word so many times. He knew he was in for it as soon Renamon saw him again.

All this took place in a split second. Before he too was zinged off to one side and vanished through a portal of his own.

"There it is, you guys," said Takato, pointing at the pulsating orb of data. "The portal to the Digital World has reopened."

After discovering it he had hastily called all of the other Tamers together and they had all arrived at great speed – any chance of seeing their digimon again was not one which they wished to pass up at any cost.

Takato was Guilmon's Tamer – just as gullible and naïve as his partner and prone to violent mood swings and unnecessary screaming in battle situations.

"Does this mean I get to see Lopmon again?" asked little Suzie, clutching a doll in one arm which was half in and half out of the usual Princess Prettypants clothing which she usually liked to put on Terriermon before she knew he was real, and looking imploringly at her older brother, Henry. Her mispronunciation of the letter "R" had vanished over the previous year.

"Not just yet, Suzie," said Henry, who was Terriermon's partner and the complete opposite of the little white rabbit. He lacked Terriermon's wit and laid-back nature. He was much more sensible. "But it gives us an opportunity to get to them. We'll have to plan this out, and try and find another way back, since Grani's gone. I'd probably have to get dad and the Monster Maker's to make another Arc."

"Ugh, that'll take forever," said Rika, Renamon's Tamer. She used to be a wild one, destroying all Digimon she could find. Since then, she was now much friendlier, but she was still a rather sarcastic and impatient person and still hated most of the things she had hated before, like her school. "And who knows how long it'll remain open. It could only be a temporary thing. I say we go now."

"Brash as always, princess," said Ryo, the supposed legendary Tamer and partner to Monodramon. Rika snarled at him and he held his hands in protest. "I'm just saying that the Digital World is a dangerous place to be even with a digimon. We won't have any and who knows how long it will take for us to find them."

"Ryo has a point," said Henry.

"Of course he does. He's Ryo," said Kazu, Guardromon's partner and a rather big-headed boy. Ryo sighed. He and his friend Kenta had been enormous hero-worshippers when they had first met Ryo in the Digital World. Truth be told, he had found it slightly embarrassing to begin with but now it was just annoying. Kenta, MarineAngemon's Tamer, was getting better but Kazu stayed the same. It was as if he thought the sun shone out of Ryo's every orifice.

Kenta knew about Ryo's irritation with Kazu's behaviour, and Rika found it even more irritating, which is why she called them the moron twins constantly. Kenta nudged Kazu to make him shut up. Kazu did, but he wasn't entirely sure what for.

Ai and Mako looked on, uncertain of what they should be doing or saying. Their eyes were wide and they fidgeted uncomfortably. The two of them felt way out of their depth. Despite the fact they had first met the other Tamers at the precise time the Digimon were pulled back into the Digital World, they had been welcomed to the group with open arms.

But they had still never been in a situation that required such an important decision before. They stood in silence, both hoping nobody would ask them a question.

Jeri was also there, standing behind the two of them. She was the one who had brought them here, since their parents would not allow them out without a guardian. Jeri bit her lip sadly. The others all had a way of finding their partners. She had none.

She thought back to the time where Beelzemon had killed Leomon. That had been a terrible day for everyone, even Beelzemon. She had since forgiven him, as he had tried with all his strength to save her from the D-Reaper and would have succeeded if it weren't for her own stupid fear.

"I think you're both right," Henry was saying. "It could be only temporary, but it would be unwise to take unnecessary risks. What would our digimon think if we got killed looking for them? I don't think Renamon would ever stop beating herself up for not being there to protect you."

Rika frowned but nodded silently, though she still looked like she was going to dive into the portal at any second. Henry, Ryo and Takato looked at each other and mentally agreed that they'd jump on her if she tried.

There was a few more minutes of silent thought as they stared at the ball down the tunnel.

"Suzie, come on," Henry put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "We need to go and talk to Dad. The sooner we get this done the better in my opinion."

"Okay, Henry, I'm coming," said Suzie and both turned to walk back home, Henry lifting Suzie onto his back, causing her to shout "Yay! Piggyback!"

Some thing hadn't changed at all.

"I'd better go too," said Ryo and he turned to leave. The three of them left the hideout and set off, Henry and Suzie heading in a different to Ryo. The others also filed out and watched them walk off.

"Well, what will the rest of us do?" asked Kenta.

"Maybe some of us should go with Henry," suggested Takato. "More people asking for his Dad's help might get his attention."

"Gogglehead," snorted Rika. "He knows exactly how many of us there are anyway. It's not as if he's never met us. If less of us go, he'll get it done quicker to stop himself from being swamped with our requests."

"Oh, right, yeah," grinned Takato, sheepishly. "Well, in that case…"

There was a sudden flash of light nearby, which caused everyone to cover their eyes. Henry, Suzie and Ryo turned back to see what was going on. The light was coming from the trees opposite the hideout. It looked like a giant, white disc. A vortex of some kind.

"What the hell is happening?" yelled Rika.

"We're about to find out guys," cried Kazu. "Look."

He pointed at the swirling vortex. Two dark dots could be see in the centre and were growing bigger. The two of them took on some very familiar shapes.

"No way," said Takato.

Two figures suddenly hurtled out of it and the white light vanished as if someone had switched off a light-bulb.

The two figures rolled across the floor. One of them hooked one long ear around a tree and stopped herself, breathing a sigh of relief as she was drawn to a halt.

The other continued going, head-over-heels, going straight through Jeri's legs. He crashed into the fence surrounding the hideout with his back, shouting, "Aww nuts." He remained upside down, slumped on his shoulders. He looked upwards and found himself staring into Rika's disbelieving face.

"Not exactly the first face I was expecting to see," said the little purple rookie, wiping a red glove across his forehead.

"Impmon!" cried Ai and Mako at the same time to the second Digimon.

"Lopmon!" Suzie shouted, pushing herself off Henry's back and running back, her brother on her heels. Lopmon got to her feet and practically leaped into Suzie's bone crushing hug, not caring if she suffocated. She almost instantly regretted it as Lopmon found herself enveloped in a grip like steel, the hardest hug that Suzie had ever given anyone. She began writhing and trying to free her neck, while hugging Suzie back at the same time.

Impmon extricated himself from the fence and then threw one arm around each of his Tamers, laughing happily, then winked at Rika and Jeri.

"What?" asked Jeri. "But … how did you guys get here?"

Lopmon was already out of breath, so Impmon answered. "Took us a whole dang year but we managed to find a Digi-Gnome. We asked it to transport us here and it did. So here we are."

"Where are the others?" asked Henry. "Did you guys get separated by the Data Streams?"

"Nah, we managed to stay together," said Impmon, grinning like a maniac. "We stayed together."

"But what about Guilmon?" asked Takato, his head hanging and the usual depression and worry creeping in when it came to his partner. Impmon rolled his eyes. This happened all the time. He kept getting worried about Guilmon changing despite Guilmon's assurances that he wouldn't and in the end it had been Takato himself that had warped Guilmon into Megidramon.

"Well, Cyberdramon's around," said Ryo. "Though I'm not sure that's a good thing." The others turned to look at him. He was holding his blue D-Arc in one hand. The holographic projection was up and the beeping locator arrow was pointing into the city.

"I should get over there," he said, both worry and excitement in his voice. "Find him before he starts devouring things."

""Not a…problem," panted Lopmon. "He's…still…Monodramon." She was wheezing now. Henry looked worried and began tugging on Suzie's arms in an attempt to loosen her death grip lest she killed her partner during her reunion.

"Oh good," said Ryo. "I'll go find him then."

He ran off, following the arrow. Suzie finally realised what she was doing and released Lopmon, who drew in huge breaths, but still had her arms and ears wrapped around her partner. One by one, the others pulled out their D-Arcs and accessed the locator option. Most of them pointed in the same direction as Ryo's, but Kenta's and Takato's pointed deeper into the park.

"Okay guys," said Takato. "Meet back here once you've found your partners." They all nodded and split up, all of them bubbling with excitement.

Takato held his D-Arc, palm outwards, in the air. And screamed, loudly.

And pointlessly.

The others all momentarily stopped to watch him make a complete idiot of himself, then turned and kept going.

At last, their Digimon had returned.

Renamon found herself hurled head-first into the human world. She threw out her arms to land gracefully on them when she hit the ground.

The only problem with that was she was in the middle of a busy street.

And she was extremely high up.

She groaned to herself as she saw the people look up in shock as the white portal closed. She repositioned her body into a diagonal angle, straight as a die and aimed herself at the wall of a nearby building, tucking her arms into her sides and sticking her legs out backwards.

At the last second before she hit the wall head-first, she swung her legs down and they struck the wall, pads first, her knees bending and absorbing the shock. Her paws shot out and her claws went straight through the concrete, sending chips of it flying down.

Now she was hanging on the side of a wall of what appeared to be an office building, in the middle of a busy street, with many people gazing up at her. She looked downwards at them. Little kids were pointing up at her and adults were placing their hands on their arms or shoulders, and all had their mouths open partially, some with fascination, others with fear.

Some of the kids were running towards her, great excitement etched on their faces. Renamon's pricked ears caught the words, "It could be my partner," from one of them and several variants from others. She wasn't surprised they didn't know who she was. In most of the news videos that had featured her against the D-Reaper, she had been either Taomon or Sakuyamon at the time.

She did not particularly want to go near those kids and get bombarded with pleas she could not and would not accept.

She noticed a window nearby to her was half open and she tensed her legs to spring into it.

On the second she did, a blinding flash of light occurred above her head. She looked up, shielding her eyes, to see another white vortex had opened high in the air. And out of it came a figure.

A small figure with huge ears.

It was white.

Renamon groaned again.

Terriermon came hurtling towards her, yelling at the top of his lungs. He desperately shot his ears out and expanded them. They filled with ear and became parachutes, allowing him to float gently down. He sighed in relief.

Then he looked down and yelled in fear.

It wasn't the fact that Renamon was staring up at him from the side of a building. It was the mob of excited children pointing up at him. The words "partner" and "Tamer" reached his ears.

And he was going to land right in the middle of them.

In a strained hope he steered himself in Renamon's direction, mentally pleading that she wouldn't let him fall into their clutches. He looked down. The groping hands were reaching up. His fevered imagination remembered horror films he had seen at Henry's, of demons reaching their hands through holes in hell.

Below, Renamon saw the terror on his face.

_I can't let anyone go through that if I can help it,_ thought Renamon. _Not even him. He'll be torn apart. They'll play tug-of-war with him. Never mind how Ai and Mako were with Impmon. That would be incredibly painful._

She reached out with one arm and grabbed him by one ear, pulling him up short as he fell past.

Terriermon breathed a sigh of relief and there were cries of disappointment from the children and horror from the adults. Evidently they thought the fox was going to kill the rabbit.

"Oh thank you, Renamon," screamed Terriermon, grabbing her around the waist and hugging her tightly. "Thank you. Thank you."

Renamon growled in disgust and pulled him off by his ear.

"Why did I have to land with you?"

Terriermon looked hurt. "Hey, I thought we'd put what happened yesterday behind us."

"You assume too much," growled Renamon and then she flipped through the half-open window, dragging Terriermon in with her and dumping him on the floor.

A woman working at her desk screamed. Renamon ignored her and walked over to the door, pulling it open and entering the deserted corridor. Terriermon followed, leaving the door open.

"What's the matter?" asked Terriermon.

"There is the small fact that I apologised to you for what I said last night but you didn't apologise to me for calling me a bitch, and all those other names."

Terriermon blinked. _I need to apologise? That's why she's mad. Couldn't she tell that I was lashing out at her just because she lashed out at me?_

"Come on, Renamon," said Terriermon. "You know I didn't mean it."

"No I don't," said Renamon. "You joke around so often that I don't know when to believe you are being serious or whether you were joking. But you sounded serious that time. You don't just call someone a bitch in a joking way."

She started down the corridor of the office building. Terriermon followed.

And outside, a man was talking into a small handheld radio and staring at the point where Renamon and Terriermon had disappeared.

Renamon walked purposefully with an angry look on her face. A couple of working people they encountered looked up. They both screamed, Renamon looked like she wanted to commit murder. They darted into the nearest office and hid.

Terriermon was jogging a little to keep up with her long strides.

"I can't believe you don't know when I'm joking or not," Terriermon was saying. "You really think that I thought you were a bitch and all those other words? When have words like that ever, ever come out of my mouth and been serious, Renamon? Or is it just because it is me that you can't accept that in your mind? Jesus, Momentai."

Too late did Terriermon realise his error and his hand covered his mouth, but Renamon had whirled around and grabbed him around the stomach in one paw. She lifted him up until he was level with her eyes. Terriermon's fingers and ears scrabbled at her fingers, trying to loosen them, but they remained in place.

"You don't even realise you're doing it do you?" she hissed at him.

"Not really," admitted Terriermon. "It just comes natural to me."

"Well it shouldn't. Every time you say that word I have a sudden and almost irresistible urge to feed you to the next hungry digimon I find that would be willing to eat you. What is it going to take for me to break through to you?"

"I don't know," said Terriermon, beginning to flare up a little himself now. "Perhaps you should come down off your high horse. You expect me to stop do something so it'll suit you? You aren't the boss of me. You can't order me about."

"I am fully aware of that," said Renamon. "But perhaps you shouldn't be so selfish. I am not the only one with a problem with it."

"Perhaps not," said Terriermon. "But you're the only one who's yelling at me about it. Everybody else at least pretends that they don't mind and they are friendly to me. And I've always been nice and open about myself, my personality and my past with everyone, including you. When have you ever done that? You're all reserved and never talk to us like friends, only like fellow warriors."

"Perhaps that is because I _am_ a warrior," argued Renamon. "And there are things about my race which are for us and a select few others to know about and you, I'm afraid, are not one of them."

"Such as what?"

"Oh, but you don't understand the concept about a secret, do you? If you ever heard about something that someone else didn't want people knowing, you automatically spread the secret as far as possible."

"Are you telling me that there is some almighty reason why you never eat with us? That's what sparked all this of yesterday isn't it? What could possibly be so secretive to get into an argument like this anyway?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah, I would. But you're obviously not going to tell me."

"Damn straight."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to stop saying my word because it doesn't please your highness."

"It's time you stopped being selfish."

"That's just hypocritical. You should take your own advice. Stop being selfish."

"I put up with that word for an entire year before I finally snapped. That is anything but selfish."

"Whatever. If you're ever willing to allow me anywhere near you after this conversation, or perhaps be more open with us then I'm gonna be happy to listen to you. But right now, we are not friends and I will not act the way people who don't like me want me too."

"Then we have a problem."

"Too right," Terriermon's expression softened. "Why can't you confide in us? Is that all you consider us to be? Colleagues? Acquaintances? Were you ever actually our friend?"

"Yes, Terriermon, I was your friend, and I still am friends with all of the others."

"They why don't you confide in them, and why not with me when we were friends?"

"You are never going to learn my secret, Terriermon."

"And as long as I'm around, you're going to have put up with "Momentai.""

Renamon's grip tightened slightly and her eyes hardened even more. Terriermon matched her gaze.

"Even I think this is a stupid argument," he said. "An argument over a Cantonese word and a stupid secret. Now, can you please put me down so that I don't have to be near someone who hates my guts?"

"Are you going to apologise?"

"You know what, I don't think I will. I don't think you deserve an apology. You say yourself that you are no longer my friend. Now can you put me down?"

Renamon did not reply.

"Hello? Earth to Renamon. I asked you to put me down."

Renamon was staring over his shoulder. He twisted in her grip to follow her line of sight with his own eyes. Down the corridor where they had been about to go down were two people. They were wearing nondescript clothing and staring at them both in apprehension. They didn't look like office workers or security. Visitors perhaps?

Terriermon began to wriggle in Renamon's grip. Renamon seemed to remember that he was there and said, "Stop squirming. What are you going to do? Attack them?"

"No," whispered Terriermon. "But they're blocking my way out. I can just startle them out of the way, that's all."

"They are innocent bystanders, Terriermon," said Renamon.

"I know," said Terriermon. "And I'm not gonna hurt them."

"You'll frighten them."

"Oh, like you haven't done that already."

He wrenched himself out of her paw by grabbing her wrist with his ears and pushing. Renamon's grip loosened and he kicked off from her paw and took of down the corridor, ears spread and gliding at the humans at high speed.

"Banzai!" he yelled.

And then, to his horror, both men drew a pistol from behind their backs and aimed both straight at him. Guns! These people had guns? But they didn't look at all like security men.

Terriermon quickly tilted one ear and lifted the other, turning in mid-air and gliding back the way he come. He heard both guns fire behind him and then something hit him in the back.

He yelped and went shooting down the corridor at speed, no longer gliding. He crashed headfirst into something solid and the entire world went black.

Terriermon came around slowly. His eyes opened just a fraction. He could see nothing, just blackness. From a moment of panic he thought that he had gone blind, but then he saw a faint glimmer of light in front of him.

It appeared that he was in a sack of some kind and he could see the light through a tiny hole in the side.

Where was he? He remembered the guns and yelped. His ear reached around to his back and tried to feel it, but all he encountered was a smooth surface. There was something or other draped across his back.

A bandage?

No, it couldn't be. It covered his entire body under his head, including his limbs. It was tight, like a glove, and strangely his back was only stinging a little. There were no massive holes where the bullets would have torn open his flesh.

So what had hit him?

He could feel motion. The bag, or whatever he was in, was moving. Someone was carrying it.

Then what was he lying on? Because it certainly wasn't the bottom of a bag. It felt firmer ands more tickly.

His eyes adjusted to the gloom.

He was in a much bigger bag than he had thought – the size of a person. But he was lying flat. That was odd. _The sack must be on a stretcher of some sort,_ he reasoned. _And whoever has got me is wheeling me somewhere._

He looked down at the thing he was lying on.

He balked.

It was Renamon and she was out like a light.

He was lying on her chest, just on the white mane of fur she had around her neck. _If she wakes up and sees me lying on her,_ he thought, _I'm as good as deleted. She'd probably eat me alive._

With that he rolled off to the side.

Or at least, he tried to.

He attempted to roll over to the right but he remained where he was. He was shocked. Was he paralysed? No. He could feel the fur tickling him. But he couldn't move from the neck down.

It was the stuff draped across him, holding him there.

Just before he could wonder what it was, Renamon groaned and her eyes opened.

"Ugh, what happened?" she moaned.

"I didn't do it," said Terriermon quickly.

Renamon's eyes focused and looked down like the little white rabbit lying on her chest. Then she shut them and moaned.

"I was hoping I was dreaming," she said.

"That's not very nice," scowled Terriermon. "If you don't want me to be here then why don't you just remove this stuff from my back? I can't lift it off myself."

"I can't take it off you either I'm afraid," said Renamon.

"Why not?" asked Terriermon.

Renamon shifted position slightly and motioned with her head. Terriermon looked and saw that she had moved her arms which had been behind her back. She had moved them both to the same side just far enough for Terriermon to see that they were crossed and there was a thick rope wrapped around both wrists, binding them tightly.

Terriermon blinked.

"Ankles too," said Renamon.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHILE I WAS…"

"SSSSHHH!" hissed Renamon, unable to shut his mouth with her hand, but the damage was done.

"Well, they're awake, sir," said a human voice from outside the bag.

Something long and thin came down on Terriermon's back, hard. He yelped in pain.

"Keep it down in there," said another voice.

Terriermon gritted his teeth and said, more quietly, "What the hell happened while I was out? Who's got us?"

"I don't know," said Renamon. "But I do know that this was no accident. They came prepared for us. Whatever that stuff was that came out of their guns got us both stuck."

"What did it look like?"

"It was a clear liquid-like substance that coated you, me and the wall behind us. You were already unconscious, so they sprayed me with a knock-out gas of some kind and then I woke up here, cut from the wall and with my wrists and ankles tied."

"Then what's covering me?"

"The liquid stuff dried very quickly."

"What's that supposed to mean? Wait, cut from the wall?"

"It means that after you got hit with it you collided with me and it dried. I hit the wall and was practically cemented to it by the substance. But you Terriermon, you had been glued to my chest."

It took a few moments for Terriermon to comprehend this.

"And this stuff on my back is that stuff, is it?"

"Yes."

"So I'm still glued to your chest."

"Yes."

"Which is why I can't move from the neck down."

"Yes."

"And both of us have been kidnapped by forces unknown and being taken to Who-Knows-Where."

"Yes."

Terriermon swore.

"For once we agree on something," said Renamon.

That's right people. This is the idea that occurred to me. Call me what you like, I think its funny. Terriermon and Renamon have little contact even when they're all together in the series so I thought it would be funny to stick them together, literally. Please note that I will not be writing any more until I receive positive feedback from enough people.

Next time…

Who were those men? What is that substance? And how on earth is Renamon going to cope with this situation?

Coming up:- **Chapter 3 : Taken**


	3. Taken

* * *

And now onto the chapter where we find out vaguely what is going on. Yes, Terriermon has been glued to the chest of Renamon, but hey, at least she's a girl – getting glued to Guilmon would have been a little uncomfortable and I'm not into that sort of thing anyway.

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 3:- Taken**

Terriermon had given up trying to reach Renamon's bound wrists and untie them with his ears. Long as they were, they were not long enough. Renamon was now writhing and attempting to break the rope with pure brute strength. If it had been a cord then it probably would have worked, but it was thick rope and did not break easily.

Every time either of the two had tried to speak to whoever was outside the bag, the same sharp lashing pain returned to Terriermon as one of their captors brought down the object onto his back.

They had both smelt fresh air for a few seconds, before the stretcher was lifted up and they stopped. Then there was the rumble of an engine and they were on the move again. They both deduced that they had been loaded into a van of some kind.

This is the thoughts of the two of them:-

_Ugh, some warrior I am. I should have avoided this. And what's worse, I have been kidnapped with Terriermon. I might be able to stand that if he weren't glued to me. Who the hell are these people?_

_I can't believe this. I always though kidnapping only happened to humans or Calumon, not me. And why do I have to be with her? It might actually not be a bad thing that she's tied up – it means she can't maul me._

After a mere ten minutes, the vehicle they were in came to a halt. Terriermon looked around the interior of the bag in slight apprehension. Renamon's eyes narrowed and glared defiantly at the top of the bag. There was the sound of the doors opening and then footsteps coming up to the bag. They stopped by Renamon's head.

Then there was another noise and the bag was unzipped slightly. It appeared to be a body bag of some sort. Terriermon blinked at the sudden brightness, but Renamon stoically glared upwards, refusing to shut her eyes against the glare. A split second later, her eyes focused and she saw the smug face of an adult male human looking down at her.

The look on his face made Renamon want to kick him, but the bad had not been unzipped enough to free her feet, so she instead said, "Who are you and why have you done thi…"

The letter "s" never came out of her mouth, as the man's hand suddenly came down and something was thrust into her open mouth. It was something made of rubber and was a spherical shape. It also had two buckles attached to it which the man began to clip together around the back of her head.

_Ugh, what is this thing?_ She thought – she had never heard of a ball-gag before.

Terriermon, on the other hand, who had spent numerous days surfing the internet, especially Wikipedia and Google, knew exactly what it was. As he was unable to use his Terrier Tornado, he opened his own mouth to launch his Bunny Blast at the man's hand. But he quickly stopped – that attack was not very direct and at such close range, he would hit Renamon in the face. Even if she hated him, he didn't hate her just yet.

He settled for yelling, "OI, WHAT ARE YOU PERVERTED OR SOMETHING? GET THAT TH…"

Another man seemed to appear out of nowhere. This one, unlike the other man, had the classical big and burly look of a henchman or bodyguard. He abruptly gave Terriermon the same treatment as Renamon.

_Bloody hell, this is foul,_ he thought. _Renamon was right, this was planned. Unless this guy just happened to have these things on them._

Renamon was trying to spit out the offending gag, but with no luck at all, and the rubber was resisting her attempts to bite it. She continued to look defiantly at their captor, but the man had other ideas. He took out a piece of cloth and Renamon found herself unable to see as it was wrapped around her eyes. Very briefly, before her vision was cut off, she saw Terriermon getting blindfolded as well.

Then she heard the man speak. "We wouldn't want anyone to hear you would we? Your questions will be answered soon my prize."

Both Terriermon and Renamon, in their sightless worlds, froze in speechless shock. Prize? The man was treating Renamon like a trophy? A mere animal? Or did he mean that in a more twisted way?

And he was paying almost no attention to Terriermon. Had they just taken him because he was there? Most likely. It seemed that Renamon had been the main target and Terriermon was an added bonus.

Both felt the stretcher being wheeled and lifted out of the van, then being pushed a short distance, before being picked up again.

After a few minutes, Terriermon's blindfold was taken off. He tried to bore holes in the man's forehead with his stare, but it didn't work. He looked down at his unwilling companion, who was still blindfolded. She was chewing angrily on the gag. Terriermon could only imagine what hell she must being going through. For him, this treatment was similar to the old Suzie thing, but without the dresses and stuff. He was being manipulated.

But Renamon had been a strong and independent warrior all her life. She had been beaten to within an inch of deletion many times, by IceDevimon, Beelzemon, the D-Reaper and others, but she had always had a dignity about her.

This, on the other hand, was a situation where she was completely powerless. She required the use of her arms to use either of her attacks, and she required Rika to digivolve. She was helpless for the first time in her whole existence.

The man lifted up a gas canister and held it to Renamon's face. Terriermon instantly called a warning and held his breath. Unfortunately he muffled cry was not enough and Renamon found herself inhaling knock-out gas once again.

Then the bag was completely unzipped and the burly henchman, along with another stereotypical thug-like man, roughly lifted her out of it and untied her arms.

"I hope you enjoy your stay here," the man said snidely at Terriermon, who raised an eyebrow. "Because you and your friend are going to be here for a while."

Terriermon snorted. This guy didn't know anything. He and Renamon were not friends for one thing. For another, once the other digimon found their Tamers, Rika and Henry would undoubtedly using the tracking device on their D-Arcs and they would be lead right to them. He wasn't that worried.

But he was worried that Impmon would find them like this. He'd never let either of them live it down.

Now that he was out of the bag, he took stock of his surroundings. They had been taken into a room – a plain room that appeared to have walls of concrete. And lining the walls were dozens and dozens of cages.

And almost all of them were occupied.

Due to his surfing the internet, Terriermon knew more about planet Earth and its inhabitants than any of the other digimon. He was able to indentify some of the Earth animals stuffed in cages that were only just big enough to hold them:- a Siamese Crocodile, Indian Vulture, Kakapo, Egyptian Jackal, Golden Headed Langur, Philippine Eagle and many others – all of them, as far as he knew, extremely rare species.

So he was a collector. And he was pretty sure that this was illegal.

And since Renamon was the only one of her kind in the Human World, she was a prize for him. But why was he being largely ignored?

Renamon's wrists were being bound once more, this time around a post in the centre of the room. No doubt this sick man wanted her to be the first thing he saw when he entered the room.

They were now attaching more ropes to Renamon until her knees and waist were also bound to the post, then her blindfold was removed, and the gags were removed from both their mouths.

Terriermon instantly began a barrage of words at the smirking man. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA OF THIS AND WHY ARE ALL THESE ANIMALS KEPT IN TINY CAGES? YOU'RE A VERY TWISTED PERSON, I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT! WHEN I GET OUT THIS I'M GOING TO SMASH YOU INTO NEXT WEEK BEFORE RENAMON CAN HAVE A GO AT YOU!"

"Temper, temper," said the man with a sneer. "You're in no position to make any demands or threats on me so I wouldn't bother." He paused. "What happened to your cheek?"

"Oh, that's relevant," said Terriermon sarcastically.

"Ah, sarcastic as well," said the man. "Perhaps you are a better prize than I thought."

"What am I? A medal?"

"No, but you are a good prize, rarer than any of the other creatures in this room, except this beauty here."

His hand reached out and he stroked Renamon's unconscious face with one thumb.

"Eeew," said Terriermon. "If she wakes up and sees you do that she'll kill you before you can bat an eye."

"I'd like to see her try to escape these bonds," said the man.

"Yeah, why bonds?" asked Terriermon. "Why not stuff her in a cage like the rest of these poor things?"

"She's sentient," said the man.

"What, so bonds are better treatment are they?"

"No, but she cannot pick a lock or use some clever escape means."

Renamon groaned again and her eyes flickered open. The man was still stroking her cheek. She snarled in rage and attempted to bite his fingers, but he withdrew his hand and stared appraisingly at her.

"A feisty one," he said.

"You really are a pervert," said Terriermon.

"Maybe so," said the man. With that he moved forwards and blew into Renamon's ear. She shuddered.

"Stop it," she demanded.

"Make me," said the man, and continued his blowing.

"Shall I?" asked Terriermon.

"It would be very much appreciated," said Renamon.

Terriermon lashed out with one ear, the end balled like a fist and smashed the man in the side of the head with it. He staggered backwards and slapped a hand to his face, then glared furiously at the bunny.

"She's not the only feisty one," said Terriermon. "Hey, look, you're cheek is hurt. Snap."

Renamon said nothing, but she kept flicking her ear, as if trying to ward away a fly with it.

"You'll pay for that," snarled the man.

"Ooh, I'm scared," said Terriermon in mock horror. "You should have done your research, buddy. 'Cause now you're over there, I can safely do this. BUNNY BLAST!"

The man was surprised as a stream of green pellets of energy erupted from Terriermon's mouth. He ducked but some of them scalded his back and he yelled in pain. Terriermon kept up the stream of attack as the man was pushed back, forced to duck behind a cage containing a Blue Iguana.

The two burly henchmen started forwards and Terriermon turned his attention to them. They too began to back away shielding their heads with their arms, but they then ran out of the door. The man leapt from the cage and followed them out, slamming the door behind him.

Terriermon blackened the door with another volley for good measure.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Renamon. "We needed answers from him."

"Answers, my ass," said Terriermon. "We'll get them, once Henry gets here, he'll sort everything out."

Renamon said nothing for a few moments, then she said, "Thank you for hitting him."

"What was I supposed to do? Let him rape you?"

"Rape? He was blowing into my ear."

"Which is considered to be alluring to some humans."

"And just how do you know that?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"Actually, no, I would rather remain ignorant."

"Probably for your own good."

"But why would he want to rape me? We are not even the same species?"

"Uh…" Renamon was surprised to see Terriermon trail off. She could see a slight flush creeping into his cheeks.

"What?" she asked.

"Uh, just the way he was talking about you while you were out."

"What did he say?"

"You don't want to know," lied Terriermon. There was no way that she was going to tell Renamon that every single male in their group considered her to be attractive. But Renamon was on to him. She knew her species were considered to be beautiful – she even used to flirt with enemy digimon, even large ones like Allomon, when both she and Rika believed that the other was a tool.

But she said nothing.

"The idea is highly disturbing," Renamon shuddered. She rarely shuddered, but she was so helpless right now that it felt unnatural. She began bucking and writhing in the ropes in an attempt to loosen them, but she was pretty much pinned to it from the waist down, so the thing that moved most was her chest.

And with Terriermon still glued to it, he began to get airsick.

"Would you calm down already?" he asked her. "I'm sure Henry and Rika will be here soon. It's only a matter of time."

"I do not wish for Rika to see me like this?" said Renamon. "I feel that I have failed. I have resisted the Digimon Sovereign and faced the D-Reaper, but I have been restrained by a mere human."

"You still think Rika cares about how good at fighting you are?" Terriermon scoffed. "Moment—oops."

Renamon was suddenly glaring at him again. Their current predicament seemed to have made both of them practically forget that they were not getting along, but now it rushed to the front of both their minds.

"Why must I be with you?" she asked. "I rather be with anyone else in a situation like this, even Impmon."

Both of them did not particularly want to get into another argument, so they both decided to simply glare in opposite directions. In both their minds, Rika and Henry could not get here too soon.

"What happened?" asked Rika, staring with blank shock as the tracking system on her D-Arc suddenly went dead. "Stupid piece of junk," she bashed it in the side hopefully, but nothing was happening.

She looked at the others – she was still with Henry, Suzie – who had brought Lopmon along so they could help find Terriermon – and, to her disgust, Ryo.

"What's going on, Rika?" asked Henry.

"I don't know," she moaned. "My D-Arc's gone dead, the stupid thing. It won't tell me where Renamon is any more."

"Mine's doing the same thing," said Henry, showing the static to her.

"Well come on, Brainiac, figure it out," she demanded, shoving her D-Arc so close to his face it was like she wanted to push it up his nose. "Fix the bloody thing."

"It's not a problem with the D-Arc – at least I don't think it is," muttered Henry. "Something must have happened."

"Like what?" asked Rika.

"Well…"

Henry was cut off from outlining his thoughts any further, but a loud "RYO!"

Ryo spun around and was barrelled into by Monodramon, who had dashed seemingly out of nowhere and leapt on his Tamer.

"Hey buddy," laughed Ryo, but he saw fright etched on the face of the little dragon.

"KEEP THEM AWAY! KEEP THEM AWAY!" he wailed.

The four Tamers and two digimon looked to see that a bunch of children, some their age, some younger and a couple older, had been chasing the terrified Rookie down the street. They all came to a halt, suddenly when they saw that Monodramon was hiding behind his Tamer.

"Er, hey," said Ryo, waving. Some of them, probably fans of the digimon card game, began muttering and pointing at him. No doubt they recognised him as the Digimon King. Their attention also turned to Rika, the Digimon Queen, and Suzie, who was clutching Lopmon. Henry was largely ignored.

"Excuse me, Mister?" asked a kid who looked about the same age as Ai and Mako, stepping forwards timidly. "Can I have that Digimon? I want him to be my partner."

Ryo bit his lip and smiled sadly. "Look, sorry mate, but he's already taken. He's my partner."

There were several moans of sadness and frustration from the crowd, but one older kid stepped forward and said, "Prove it!"

Obviously this was not one of the kids who knew who Ryo was.

"Don't talk to him like that!" snapped Henry, eyeballing the taller kid. "He's one of us. We're all Tamers."

"I'll believe it when I see it," the kid folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

Ryo sighed, and stood up, picking up his D-Arc from where he had dropped it upon impact with his partner. He pulled a card from his pocket, which promptly turned blue, and he slashed it.

"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

Monodramon erupted with light as he felt a familiar strength surge through him and as the change began, he shouted to the world:-

"**Monodramon matrix-digivolve to …… Cyberdramon!"**

"Have I proven myself yet?" asked Ryo, as the familiar presence of the large black, mechanoid dragon digimon loomed over him and stared down at the kids, all of whom were now either backing away, or running and screaming.

Not many people had the heart to face up to Cyberdramon the first time they saw him.

Especially when Cyberdramon was growling and flexing his claws at them.

All of the kids were probably expecting a more friendly digivolved form, and none of them wanted to be near him. One by one they turned and fled, some screaming, others looking white with fear.

"Perhaps you should ease up on the whole "I-want-to-peel-your-flesh-from-your-bones," routine Cyberdramon," Ryo smiled up at the big dragon. "But it's good to see you."

Ryo hugged him. Whereas Monodramon would have taken it into his stride, Cyberdramon just looked slightly awkward. Displays of affection were not things that usually happened anywhere near him, let alone with him involved.

Henry felt Suzie tugging on his arm. "What were you going to say about Terriermon?" she asked.

"Oh right. Well, either they have returned to the Digital World, something is jamming the signal or they've been deleted," he said, worry etched in his face and tone.

"Deleted?" gasped Rika.

"Remember what happened to Jeri's digivice?" asked Henry, darkly. "I really don't think that's the case, though. It would probably take another digimon to delete either of them, and the D-Arc isn't picking up a Digital Field. And if it took a Digi-Gnome to get them back here, there probably is no way of getting back there without another one."

"Then option two is most likely," said Lopmon, from Suzie's arms.

"So we won't be able to find them with these things?" asked Rika, shaking her D-Arc wildly.

"Not unless whatever is jamming them stops doing it," said Henry.

"Then we'll have to look for them the old fashioned way," said Ryo, walking over to them. "Let's go, Cyberdramon, we've got a city to search. Shouldn't be too hard to find them, they stand out in a crowd."

"And they too may be pursued by a horde of squealing infants," snarled Cyberdramon. "Very well." He turned to Henry. "But when you see Terriermon, be prepared for a slight shock."

Henry blinked. Cyberdramon had said something sincere, although his voice and expression had still kept the usual "You-must-die" quality to it. Cyberdramon grabbed Ryo and plonked him onto his back between his wings and took off before Henry could ask what he was talking about.

So Henry turned to the only other being there who might have a slight clue.

"What did he mean?" he asked Lopmon.

He noticed that the dog-rabbit who looked so much like his own partner was not meeting his eyes, when she replied. "Terriermon has a very large bruise on his left cheek."

"What? Why? How did it happen?"

Lopmon looked downcast and, to Henry's surprise, her eyes got slightly wet. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What's wrong, Lopmon?" asked Suzie, placing her partner gently on the floor.

"Let's just say that relationships between the group members became a little… stretched, before we found the Digi-Gnome," said Lopmon.

"What do you…?"

For the second time, Henry was cut off mid-sentence, by a loud, "Hellohellohellohellohellohellohellohellohellohellohellohellohello!"

Rika found herself ploughed into by a small, white creature. Fortunately, Calumon was not as heavy as Monodramon, so she was not knocked over, but she had to take a step back as Calumon hugged her neck, and then bounced down, hopping around the group, and happily shouting a song of his own composition. And as usual with his songs, the first line of each couplet made sense, while the second just rhymed.

"Hooray, at last, I found my friends,

I do not want this song the end,

Now I think I want to play,

Before the sky gets very grey,

Spinning round and round and round,

Until I fall onto the ground,

Then I'll fly into the air,

And try to find some underwear!"

Rika almost laughed and would have done, were she not so worried for her partner. It had almost become tradition for underwear to feature at some point during all of Calumon's songs.

"Hey, Calumon," she said, picking him up gently. "Have you seen Renamon or Terriermon around?"

Calumon's ears retracted. "Not since the Digital World," he whimpered.

Rika glanced from Calumon's depressed face, down to Lopmon's equally depressed face. "Okay," she said, slowly and deliberately, and in a tone that clearly stated that neither of them was leaving until she got an answer, "What happened?"

There was a pause, before Lopmon spoke up.

"Momentai."

That was it. Just the one word.

"That's Terriermon's word," said Henry. "He won't like you using it."

"But that word is what happened," sniffed Lopmon. "Terriermon was saying it so often that it was driving Renamon up the wall. It all came to a climax yesterday, just before nightfall. She hit him."

Three pairs of eyes widened. Henry and Rika looked up and stared disbelievingly into each other's faces. Suzie looked from one to the other.

"Your partner hit mine?" Henry said.

"I don't believe it," said Rika. "Renamon would never hit her friends."

"So you're saying Lopmon is lying?" asked Suzie.

"No, but…" Rika's expression was etched with worry as she desperately tried to find an explanation for this. So far as she knew, Lopmon never lied. She was actually a terrible liar.

Henry just watched Rika frantically try to find an answer. He too didn't want to believe it. He had always put a lot of faith in both Terriermon and Renamon to work together in times of need, not fight each other.

Suzie frowned. She may not have much sense, but she wanted to stop this before it went any further and developed into a full scale argument. She didn't want Rika to have a rivalry with yet another Tamer, She said, "Lopmon, let's go find them."

Lopmon nodded. Suzie took out a card. Over the year they had been apart, Henry, Rika and Takato had all been instructing her in card use, as had Ryo whenever Rika wasn't around, so she now knew exactly how to use them. She had claimed it was boring, but she had listened anyway.

The card turned blue and she nervously looked around. Now that Cyberdramon had flown away they were drawing a crowd again. She swallowed and swiped it, saying, "Digi-Modify! Matrix digivolution activate!"

"**Lopmon matrix-digivolve to …… Antylamon!"**

The huge former deva kneeled down and picked Suzie up in her enormous hands, placing her on her head between the ears, just as she had the first time they had met.

"Are you two coming?" she asked Rika and Henry. Henry nodded and Rika did the same a second later, so Antylamon picked both of them up and then hared away at breathtaking speed, head turning from side to side as she tried to spot either of the two missing digimon.

Henry and Rika both looked at one another again. They came to a silent agreement that they would find out what was going on from their partner's and then try to straighten it out.

_If something happens between them then that could be disastrous,_ thought Henry.

_I never thought Renamon would go to such extremes,_ thought Rika.

_Poor Terriermon. I always was a little scared of Renamon,_ thought Suzie.

_When I find those two I am going to force them to get along if it's the last thing I do,_ thought Antylamon, whose personality was much tougher than when she was Lopmon.

Calumon watched them go, then decided that he would go and find Guilmon. Hopefully the dinosaur and his Tamer would be able to contact the others to get them to help.

It had been over and hour and still Terriermon and Renamon had neither said a word, nor looked at each other. Both could be very stubborn when they wanted to be, and as a result, both refused to believe that they were to blame.

Terriermon was staring at the jackal, which was whining pitifully in its tiny cage. He had never seen anything so cruel in all his life. It was barely able to scratch itself.

_So, that's what intensive farming is like, is it?_ He thought.

Renamon was, in turn, staring at the door which was covered in small black blast marks from Terriermon's attack.

_The little idiot does my head in under normal circumstances and now this. I wonder how long I'm going to keep my sanity if I don't get out of this mess soon. Even the sound of his breathing is annoying me._

The silence continued to stretch between them. Renamon's wrists were marginally protected from the ropes by her large purple gloves, but her ankles and knees were beginning to chafe slightly. She began to shift uncomfortably. Terriermon, on the other hand, was beginning to ache. His torso and limbs had been in the same position for some time and his muscles were beginning to seize up.

The door clicked and Terriermon's head spun around until they were both facing the same direction. The man, whoever he was, threw open the door, the sick grin back on his face. He was holding another pair of ball-gags in one hand.

"BUNNY BL-mmph!" said Terriermon, his attack cut off as he felt his mouth filled, not with rubber, but with fur. The one part of Renamon that had not been secured to the post had suddenly flicked upwards and plastered over his face.

Her tail.

"Wait," she said. "I want some answers, but if he comes any close to me with those, you can blast him to hell."

Terriermon glared at her, but uttered a muffled "Fine" through the fur. Renamon removed her tail from his face.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with that tail," snickered the man.

"I don't want to listen to your perverted fantasies," said Renamon. "My first question is, who are you?"

"Besides a weirdo," added Terriermon.

The man paused, before saying, "They call me Goro."

"And who are they, the wizards?" asked Terriermon.

"Will you shut up?!" snapped Renamon. "You are not helping the situation whatsoever!"

"Jeez, can't I do anything without annoying you?"

"No!" she replied nastily. Then she said to their captor, Goro, "Why do you want us?"

If Terriermon could move either of his arms to slap his own forehead he would have. "Well, duh," he said.

"Your friend has a point," said Goro.

"He is not my friend, and answer the question."

"I am a collector," said Goro simply. "The rarest of the rare come into my collection from right across the world. I have associates dotted all around the place. One of them spotted your dramatic entrance through the portal and instantly called in my squadron. You, there is only one of you on the whole planet. How many earth animals lay claim to that title?"

"There's a species of Giant Tortoise with only one of its…"

"I told you to shut up!" said Renamon.

"And I told you that you are not my boss."

Renamon sniffed and turned her attention to Goro again. "But why me? There are other digimon who are one of a kind, why specifically me? Guilmon is the only one of his kind on any world."

"I don't swing that way," sniggered Goro.

"I told you that he was a perverted bastard," said Terriermon.

"My, my, we are a foul mouthed little creature," said Goro. "And you're companion is simply f…"

"Finish that sentence and I will allow Terriermon to blast you," snarled Renamon.

"What do you mean "allow me?"" asked Terriermon. "I don't think the idea that I don't do what you say has quite sunk in. BUNNY BLAST!!!"

Another barrage of energy balls smashed the wall above the doorway.

"That was a warning shot!" said Terriermon. "Next one goes lower. Much lower."

"I demand that you release me," snapped Renamon.

"Well, that wasn't stereotypical," said Terriermon.

"Don't make me give you another bruise!"

"Oh, that was you?" laughed Goro, clapping his hands. "Marvellous, you really are a strong one. Just the sort of qualities I admire in a female."

"I don't do flattery," scowled Renamon.

"Since when?" accused Terriermon, then turned to Goro. "I said that Henry will be here soon. It's only a matter of time."

"Oh, is it?" laughed Goro. "Well, I may not have put much research into you, but I did research the Tamers. I happen to know all about the tracking function in those little devices of your friends. It was so easy to steal one from those very young ones."

"You stole the digivice of Ai and Mako?" asked Renamon.

"Oh yes. Being such small and innocent children they simply believed that they had lost it for a while, until I put it back. But I was able to determine a way to block that tracking function and I placed it around this entire building. Your friends don't have a clue where you are."

"Sir," said a voice, and one of the henchmen walked in. "We think that they know they are missing, sir. That enormous biped rabbit just streaked past with three of the humans on its head."

_Antylamon,_ thought Renamon and Terriermon simultaneously.

"Did it show any sign that it thought they were here?" asked Goro.

"None, sir," said the henchman.

"Good." Goro sneered nastily at them. Renamon slumped slightly in her bonds and began to attempt to pull her wrists apart again, but it was futile. Terriermon bit his lip and looked upwards into the frowning face of his fellow prisoner. He sighed.

"Get comfortable," said Goro, before making to leave. "But I'll be back tomorrow. After all, my collection cannot survive without food."

Renamon looked over at the jackal. It's ribcage was very easily discernable.

"I'm sure they appreciate your efforts," she said.

Goro and his henchman left the room. Terriermon felt an overwhelming sense of despair begin to creep into him. Unable to look at any of the pathetic menagerie, he did the one other option – he buried his face in Renamon's fur and refused to move.

Renamon looked down at him. Despite the fact that she now hated the little annoyance, she felt a great sense of pity for him. She was responsible for this. That Goro had been after her, not Terriermon, and yet he too was now in the same predicament she was.

She felt her fur where Terriermon had buried his head get wet. Terriermon was crying for the second time in two days. She couldn't blame him though. She felt like shedding a tear herself, but she refused to allow herself to weaken. She must remain strong, for both their sakes.

That is the third chapter completed. Thanks to those three who have reviewed. You guys are right. I like the story and I am going to write it anyway. I hope I haven't gone too far with the whole pervert theme, but for my idea of gluing them together, I needed Renamon to be unable to remove Terriermon with her claws. Answer: tie her up. But why would she be tied up. Answer: Goro.

Do not expect my updates to come as swiftly as this one did. School is about to start again and as I will be doing my A2 year I may be very busy. But I will continue writing when I can.

I want this whole situation with being glued together to last at least four more chapters, so I am open to any suggestions.

Next time…

How are the two going to cope with this situation? Will Goro make another move on Renamon? How will Henry and Rika react to being unable to find their partners.

Coming up:- **Chapter 4 : Futile Search**


	4. Futile Search

Okay, nobody new has reviewed so far, but I am going to plough on regardless. The second chapter of Renamon's and Terriermon's capture, in which we look at the feelings of both them and what the Tamers are doing to try and locate them.

My disclaimer is at the beginning of the first chapter – I see no point in writing it again.

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 4:- Futile Search**

The city was in uproar at the moment – kids screaming, adults yelling, some people pointing upwards in awe and wonder. Why? Because the digimon had finally returned, and they were making a spectacular entrance.

Calumon had succeeded in finding Takato and Guilmon, who were in the middle of a laughing reunion which involved Guilmon sitting on Takato and licking his face. It had taken five minutes or so for Calumon to explain what was happening, as he kept getting sidetracked by passing butterflies and once dived into a bag of his favourite cream puffs, but once the information had been extracted from him WarGrowlmon was standing in the park for the first time in over a year and had taken to the skies.

He had been shortly followed by Guardromon, who had been found by Ryo and Cyberdramon as they searched for the missing two. Antylamon was racing through the streets, carefully sidestepping cars and lorries at the same unstoppable speed. MarineAngemon stayed near the ground too, as he refused to part from his partner and they began to look the old fashioned way.

"They're not here, Takato," said WarGrowlmon, as he rocketed through the business district.

"I know," said Takato. "This is weird. Are you sure that they came with you guys?"

"Yep," said his partner. "Renamon was the one who made the wish for all of us and Terriermon was the one who had spotted the Digi-Gnome in the first place. I remember him shouting "Momentai," on the way up."

"Careful," said a voice. "You wouldn't want to end up on Fox-face's bad side as well, wouldya?"

Beelzemon Blast Mode had joined the search, Ai and Mako in his arms. Both were looking up at him with awe and respect – they had never seen his Mega form up close before, only from a distance when fighting the D-Reaper.

"Bad side?" asked Takato. "Why?"

"Renamon slugged Terriermon in the cheek yesterday," said Beelzemon in a direct way. Unlike Lopmon, he had no problem with stating the facts. "That word of his annoys her big time, and he didn't even notice it until it was too late. There was an enormous argument with a rather painful finish for Helicopter-head."

"Ouch," Takato rubbed his own cheek.

"Indeed," said Beelzemon. "Oh look, there's Cyberdramon." He nodded with his head. The big black dragon was just flying over the mall, Ryo clinging to his back and yelling, "You can eat later! We're trying to find the princess's partner, and Henry's too."

Takato laughed. Monodramon's appetite was mild but Cyberdramon had one almost as voracious as Guilmon. He particularly liked bloody meat and the one time he had answered the question as to why without snarling into the person's face was, "It's fun to tear it to shreds. Less fun than tearing another digimon to shreds though."

"That reminds me," said WarGrowlmon. "I'm hungry."

"Really?" said Beelzemon. "Who'd have ever thought? You? Hungry? It's Armageddon, the Apocalypse, Judgement day. The end of the world must have come."

"Very funny," growled WarGrowlmon. "You could be the new Terriermon."

"Not sure I'd want that honour to be honest," said Beelzemon. "The little rabbit gets so many death threats I sometimes wonder how he's managed to survive this long."

"Let's keep looking," said Takato. "If we don't then we'll all get death threats from Rika."

"Good point," said Beelzemon and winged down the left road of a T-junction. WarGrowlmon took the right, watching as Cyberdramon flew past and soared over a large bunch of lorries.

"Do you think we will find them, Takato?" asked WarGrowlmon. "I know that Renamon could easily go missing if she wanted to be missing, but it's not like her to just vanish as soon as she gets the chance to see her Tamer. And as for Terriermon, we should have at least found some evidence of him by now."

"He's not very discrete is he?" said Takato, nodding. "Maybe we should try something else. Go back the way we came and go lower. Maybe you'll be able to smell them."

"Good idea," WarGrowlmon boosted his rockets and executed a sweeping U-turn. He came to the T-Junction once again and swooped lower, lower, lower. His feet hit the ground and caused two massive cracks in the road.

"I didn't mean land!" yelled Takato.

"Oops," said WarGrowlmon. But he continued to walk through the street, sidestepping cars and vans as they went screeching past. One car came directly at him and he had to carefully lift one foot and his tail to ensure that the car and its occupants were not damaged.

"Now we're the ones not being discrete," said WarGrowlmon.

But then something happened. A familiar scent filled his nostrils. It was faint, a couple of hours old, but it was certainly the correct smell. "I smell Renamon," he informed his tamer.

"You do? Where?"

"Hold on," WarGrowlmon swung his head to and fro to pinpoint which direction the smell was coming through. He followed the faint trail to the left hand side of the street and began to sniff the wall. His nose stopped by an open window. The female person in the room squealed and bolted for the door.

"She was here," said WarGrowlmon. "And I can smell Terriermon as well. They were both here, but not for a while. Ooh, that's not good. Terriermon is the last one Renamon would want to be stuck with."

"You think they're in there?" asked Takato.

"Worth a shot," said the cyborg-dinosaur and he reached up and placed Takato on the ground. As he de-digivolved back to Guilmon, Takato pulled out his phone and called Henry. He could usually count on the reliable Tamer to have something on him.

After a couple of rings, Henry answered. **"Takato?"**

"Henry, we have a slight lead here. Guilmon's picked up the scent of both the missing digimon."

There was a muttering on the other side. No doubt Henry was telling Rika what was going on. Then:- **"Where are you?"**

"The business district. Not far from the HYPNOS towers actually."

"**We'll be right there."**

Henry hung up. Takato put his phone back in his pocket and turned to see Guilmon staring up at the spot where he had smelt them. "Takato," he turned to his Tamer. "I'll need a boost."

Takato nodded and pulled out a card, slotting it through his D-Arc and saying. "Digi-Modify! Hyperwing Activate!"

As the bright feathered wings appeared on Guilmon's back between his shoulder-blades and he wrapped his arms around Takato to take off, a large blur of brown came down the street and skidded to a halt. Antylamon had arrived.

"That was fast," remarked Takato.

"It's an urgent situation," replied the giant bunny. Her arms reached up and the three humans on her head hopped into her hands. Guilmon lifted off the ground and flew up to the spot where he had smelt Renamon and Terriermon.

"They went in here," he said, flying to the window and placing Takato inside, before hopping in himself. The wings faded. Antylamon's massive hand appeared by the sill and they were joined by Henry, Rika and Suzie. Then Antylamon de-digivolved and Lopmon caught the air on her ears and glided smoothly into Suzie's waiting arms.

"Okay then, Bread-for-Brains," said Rika. "Do your thing."

"My thing? What thing?"

"She means follow the trail," said Henry.

"Oh." Guilmon nodded and lowered his nose to the carpeted floor. After a couple of seconds he began to walk towards the door, which had been left open by the panicked office worker. Then he turned right and headed down the corridor. The four Tamers and Lopmon followed apprehensively, all hoping that he would lead them to something good.

After a few minutes of following the tracker, he pulled up short and stared at the wall.

"What is it?" asked Henry.

"I don't know," said Guilmon, inspecting something on the wall. Lopmon leapt off Suzie's head and glided to Guilmon's shoulder. Her ear reached out and traced some kind of clear substance which appeared to be plastered to the wall.

"What is this stuff?" she asked.

"Let me see," said Henry. The two digimon made way for the clever Tamer, who began to inspect the substance himself. "It appears to be some kind of strange compound. It has the same texture as plastic."

"Is this important?" asked Rika impatiently.

"It could be," said Henry. "We should show this to Yamaki and my dad. Guilmon, could you take some from the wall?"

The dinosaur nodded and sank his claws into some of the substance and prized it loose. Henry took it and put it in his pocket. "Let's go," he said. Guilmon dutifully lowered his nose again and started to sniff once more.

"The trail still there," he said. "But it's much fainter now. I can only just smell them." He plodded on down the corridors, Lopmon still on his shoulder. They filed past workers and visitors alike, who just stared blankly as they walked past.

Eventually Guilmon came to the front door of the office building and pushed them open. He followed the trail to the right slightly, until suddenly...it vanished. The trail went stone cold. His nostrils flared as they desperately tried to pick up the scent of either of his two friends, but nothing came to him.

"What's happened?" asked Lopmon.

"Where is it? The trail's gone!" Guilmon whined. Frantically, he began to run around the whole area, sniffing everything. When he found nothing he roared in frustration and overturned a litter bin.

"Guilmon, calm down," cried Takato.

"Why should he?" yelled Rika. "Stupid dinosaur! He's useless! He can't even follow a trail!"

Rika was about to go into a tirade against Takato's digimon, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to stare into the grey eyes of Henry. "You can't blame Guilmon," said the Chinese Tamer. "He did very well, getting us this far. And we have something to go on," he pulled the large wad of stuff from his pocket. "This could be a lead."

Rika frowned and nodded bitterly. Her hope of a quick reunion was all but depleted. "You're right," she said. "Sorry Guilmon."

Guilmon nodded. Lopmon sighed in relief. The last thing they needed was for an argument to begin between Rika and Henry as well as their partners.

"Right then," said Henry. "We should get looking again. Rika, you go with Takato and Guilmon. Perhaps he can find another scent. Suzie, you and I will go find Dad. He can round up Yamaki and the others to analyse this stuff."

They all nodded in confirmation. With a swipe of two cards Antylamon and WarGrowlmon were once again standing in the street. Once their passengers had boarded, both of them turned away and headed off in a different direction.

Terriermon had fallen asleep in the cramped position, leaving Renamon alone in her sadness. Not that she minded. Having Terriermon upset just made it worse. The tall fox kept one eye on the door at all times. There was no way in hell she was going to let that man anywhere near her.

Her thoughts kept wandering to Rika, although she was trying not to think of her. What would she be doing right now? Looking for her certainly, but where was she? Who was she with? She guessed Henry – after all he would not be able to find his partner either. And who else was looking for them? She knew of Lopmon and her Tamer, but as for others, she could only guess.

She sighed, her chest heaving in the big motion. Terriermon, as a result, moved with it, like riding a wave on a surfboard. Renamon almost smiled and then began to purposefully breathe heavily in and out just to watch Terriermon helplessly move with it. It provided about twenty seconds of amusement before the usual sadness began to creep in once again.

That was the point where Terriermon smacked his lips and began to snuggle further into Renamon's fur.

She stared at him, and she forced herself to remember that he was asleep and thus unaware of his surroundings. He would never have done that otherwise. It would have meant a hiding from her later, even when they had been friends. But it was a strange feeling, she had to admit, to be used as a pillow. At all other times she had slept alone, ready to spring up at a moment's notice should there be the need for it.

It was quite nice actually.

She closed her own eyes and leaned back on the post she was bound to. She wouldn't sleep just in case the man tried to come in while she was vulnerable, but she would rest and try to forget most of the worries for the time being.

Terriermon was dreaming. At first it was the usual stupid dream that he ordinarily had. He was watching the postman who regularly came to Henry's apartment walking around the street below, picking up leaves and piling them together so that they made a large sign on the road below, which read:- Beware the dentist.

Just as Dream Terriermon began to laugh hard at the absurdity of the message, the dream changed. Henry came out onto the balcony, when suddenly an unknown force hurled both of them over the edge. Terriermon desperately grabbed for Henry, but missed. He watched in horror as his Tamer fell to street and landed with a sickening thud, breaking both his legs.

"Quick!" called the Dream Terriermon to passersby. "Call an ambulance. Do something! Don't leave him there!"

But they just stared blankly at him, as if they couldn't understand a word he was saying. He yelled in annoyance and dived to Henry, when suddenly the street disappeared. He and the injured Henry were now standing in the park, near Guilmon's hideout, but something was wrong. The sky was blood-red and the trees were on fire or had collapsed. A deep rumbling laugh echoed across the sky. Terriermon looked up to see Zhuqiaomon swoop above.

"PHONEIX FIRE!" yelled the Sovereign and a blast of flame vaulted into the city, smashing into a building.

"Whoa," came a voice. "What's going on?"

Dream Terriermon turned to see Impmon running towards him. "Impmon, quick, Henry's hurt. We need to get him some help!"

"Help? Hurt? What happened?"

"I don't know! He fell from the balcony! Quick!"

He ran to his Tamer, but suddenly a searing fireball hit him in the back and he fell. In horror, he turned to see Impmon grinning sadistically at him. Then he erupted with light and there stood Beelzemon. He was the normal type, complete with red eyes. He strode forwards and casually kicked Terriermon aside, one of the spikes on his boot imbedding itself in Terriermon's ear, causing him to yowl in pain.

"What's happening?" cried another familiar voice. Suzie and Lopmon had arrived on the scene.

"I'll tell you what's happening," said Beelzemon. "You digi-pets and your Tamers have met your downfall."

"But Beelzemon, you're on our side!" tried Terriermon.

"Sure I am. Oh, wait, not!" Beelzemon leered. "You are so easy to fool. Pathetic, that's what you are!"

And to Terriermon's horror, Beelzemon picked up Henry in one clawed hand by the neck of his shirt and pulled one shotgun from the holster on his back, holding it to Henry's head.

"NO!" cried Terriermon, leaping forwards, but too late.

"**DOUBLE IMPACT!"**

Henry's head was blown open by the bullet and he slumped to the ground. Loud screams came from Suzie and Lopmon. The latter leapt down and made ready to charge, tears in her eyes. But then a shadow fell over them.

"Well done Beelzemon," said Zhuqiaomon. "And now, I shall destroy the traitor and her disgusting Tamer! **BLAZING HELIX!**"

Terriermon screamed as Lopmon and Suzie were enveloped by the flames and tore his eyes away, unable to look as the horrible screams were cut off. Then he saw, standing on top of Guilmon's hideout, a tall yellow fox – Renamon. She was staring at the scene with cold, unforgiving eyes.

"It's no more than you deserve," she said.

Renamon became aware that something was not right when Terriermon moaned. She opened her eyes and saw that his face had emerged from her fur and was screwed up in what looked like pain, but then she realised that it was fear. But he was still asleep.

Terriermon groaned again and shifted his head, so he was facing the opposite direction. He began to twitch slightly, his breathing deepened and became more ragged. A sweat was beginning to break over his horn and forehead.

_He must be having a nightmare,_ she thought. _I'm not surprised. I'm pretty sure I'd have one if I fell asleep._

Suddenly Terriermon yelped loudly, causing half the menagerie around the walls to wake up. The langur began to twitter and one of the vultures cawed.

Terriermon was whimpering now. _Some nightmare,_ thought Renamon. Terriermon's uneven breathing became more hollow and his head began to shift around. If he had been able to move the rest of his body, Renamon was sure he'd be thrashing it around. As it was, his ears were beginning to spasm.

Then he began to mutter, "No. No. Not Henry. Someone, please. Help." It was so quiet that Renamon could barely hear it, but it was so pathetic and fearful that it wrenched her heart. Terriermon was more scared than she had ever seen him. And something bad must be happening to Henry in his dream.

"You just stood there!" yelled Dream Terriermon at Renamon, who still hadn't moved. "You let him die! You could have helped! And he's...they're...dead!"

"And now it's your turn!" Beelzemon brought his foot down on Terriermon's back and lowered the barrel of the shotgun until it was pointing dead-centre on the back of Terriermon's head.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have annoyed me so much!" snorted Renamon.

"Any last words?" said Beelzemon sadistically.

Before Terriermon could say anything, Guilmon appeared and barrelled into Beelzemon, knocking him slightly off balance and releasing Terriermon from his hold. "Fool!" yelled Beelzemon, bringing the gun to bear. "DOUBLE IMPACT!"

Guilmon dropped like a stone and splintered into data. A cry of horror ripped from Terriermon's throat. Turning, he saw others, Cyberdramon, Guardromon, and MarineAngemon all heading their way.

He felt helpless and watched in despair as Beelzemon leapt forward and engaged them in battle. Guardromon fell first, Beelzemon using his Darkness Claw to rip him open and pull out vital wires. The Mega Demon Lord spun and shot Cyberdramon in the head. The dragon fell and Beelzemon quickly fired a barrage into the dragon's back. Both Champion and Ultimate split into particles.

Beelzemon swung about and smashed MarineAngemon with his tail, sending the tiny mega into the wall. Terriermon watched as Beelzemon brought his fist forward and turned away, not wanting to see Beelzemon paste the poor mega flat with one hand. Then he turned back to Terriermon. "No one to save you this time," he snarled, and raising his gun, he pulled the trigger.

Terriermon's head and ears were thrashing wildly in all directions. Renamon was at a loss. What should she do? If he carried on like this he was likely to injure himself somehow. The other animal's were kicking up a storm now and no doubt the man, Goro, would be in soon to investigate.

She'd have to wake him up or calm him down.

Unable to use her paws, being tied behind her back and a pole, she brought her tail up and covered Terriermon with it like a blanket. She gently moved it up and down in a soothing way and she said quietly. "Ssh, Terriermon. You'll be alright. Everything is fine. I've got you."

A blur of yellow and Terriermon found he was not dead. He looked up to find that Renamon had knocked him from the path of the bullet a split second before deletion.

"You..." Terriermon roared in rage, but Renamon cut him off by hugging him.

"Ssh, Terriermon. You'll be alright. Everything is fine. I've got you."

"No, it's not fine. They're dead! They're all dead!"

"Pathetic," said Beelzemon, walking forwards and grinning evilly. Suddenly, Rika appeared and with a flash, Sakuyamon was standing in the clearing. With a vicious swing, she sent her Spirit Strike soaring at Beelzemon, who flailed with his arms in a vain attempt to parry them.

Sakuyamon glowed with energy and it spread up to the sky, and to the deformed and charred remains of Henry and Suzie. "Oh no, you don't!" Beelzemon cried and aimed at the priestess, when suddenly a stream of pink energy hit him from behind. All and sundry turned to see ... Beelzemon? But this one was in Blast Mode.

"You bastard!" bellowed Beelzemon Blast Mode. "How dare you impersonate me and kill my friends!"

"Bah!" came the voice of Zhuqiaomon from above. "Finish them!"

"DOUBLE IMPACT!"

"CORONA BLASTER!"

As expected, Beelzemon Blast Mode's attack easily trumped the evil Beelzemon's, who was obliterated. Then Sakuyamon seared with energy and suddenly, inexplicably, Henry and Suzie were healed and both revived, yelling in shock. Particles flew down from the sky and formed the five digimon that had just been killed.

"So you destroyed my copy!" yelled Zhuqiaomon. "No matter. You still have me to deal with.

But just then, another Sovereign appeared. Baihumon. A stream of energy lanced from his mouth and struck Zhuqiaomon in the chest, turning the great phoenix into a huge bronze statue. Azulongmon appeared out of the sky and looped a coil around the frozen bird, preventing him from falling.

"Things have gone far enough," he said. "We need to remove the virus that had infected..."

But whatever he said next was lost of Terriermon as Sakuyamon had de-digivolved and Renamon was still holding him. "You'll be fine, Terriermon," she said. "I won't let anything hurt you."

Terriermon jolted awake to the feeling of fur tickling the back of his head. He looked up. Renamon was staring down at him with...was that concern in her expression?

"Are you alright?" she asked. Terriermon noticed he was sweating and had a slight crick in his neck from where he had been thrashing it around. "It was a dream?" he asked, relief etched in his voice. "Oh thank god."

"It must have been bad," said Renamon. "You were doing everything short of screaming blue murder. What was it about?"

"I don't want to talk about it," muttered Terriermon, the sight of Beelzemon shooting Henry in the head seemed to have been burned to the back of his eyes.

"That's a first," said Renamon. Terriermon chuckled a little. Now that Terriermon had calmed down, Renamon thought it would be prudent to remove her tail from him, so she did, letting it fall back down to the ground. She shifted awkwardly, chafing her bound wrists.

"Thanks," said Terriermon. "But I'm surprised you did it."

"I didn't want you to wake up that pervert," said Renamon.

"What?" asked Terriermon. "Is that it? That's all you cared about?"

"You have yet to apologise to me," she reminded him.

"Well then forget my thanking you," sniffed Terriermon and the silence re-ensued. But half an minute later, Terriermon relented and muttered, "Beelzemon shot Henry."

Renamon's eyes widened. She could not imagine a worse nightmare than the death of her Tamer. But Terriermon kept going, and there was a pitiful edge to his voice, "And then the turkey sovereign killed Suzie and Loppy, and Beelzemon shot Guilmon, then the others, one by one, and you were just standing there and staring with a satisfied look."

Terriermon did not wish to reveal just how it had ended. Renamon blinked. _Is that what Terriermon thinks of me?_ She thought. But she said, "I would never, ever, sit back and watch as the Tamers and the others would be blown to smithereens. I will defend everyone with everything I have."

Terriermon looked grateful, then grinned and said, "Yeah, you go in whip ass, like always."

"I prefer the term, kick butt, than whip ass," said Renamon. "Whip ass, is something that that Goro creep might do."

"Good point."

There was a significant pause, before Terriermon said, "Look, I'm sorry for those things I said back in the Digital World. But I still think you overreacted just a little bit," he held two of the thick "fingers" on his ears close together for emphasis. "But you aren't a bitch."

Renamon half-smiled. "Good to here. But you did leave it a very long time before you finally said sorry."

"Momentai."

_Aargh,_ screamed Renamon in her head, wrenching her wrists in an attempt to grab him but the rope tying them together remained in place. _He just had to go and ruin it didn't he. He could have stuck with sorry but no, he had to say it again._

"I probably shouldn't have said that, should I?" asked the annoyance.

"Oh no, it's fine," said Renamon. "I have suddenly come to love that wonderful word. Say it again."

"Moment—"

"I didn't mean it!" shouted Renamon. The door banged open and they both swung their heads around to see Goro, with an expression of delight on his face.

"Perfect," said the creep. "I now have the perfect way to rub your fur the wrong way. My thanks to you, little rabbit. But what does "Momentai" mean?"

Renamon groaned.

"You were listening at the door?" asked Terriermon stonily. "Why am I not surprised? And it's none of your business as to what Momentai means. It's my word and my word only. Only I may rub Renamon's fur the wrong way with it."

"Not for long," said Goro. "I like forceful females. And it's always better when they are angry!"

"Well when you decide to rape Renamon, let me be there. I'll enjoy watching her tear you to shreds."

"Someone's cranky," said Goro.

"You have no idea," sniffed Terriermon.

"In fact, I think I'll give a demonstration of how powerless she is now," Goro advanced, looking hungrily at Renamon.

"Not in this life! BUNNY BLAST!"

Goro, in his desire, seemed to have forgotten about Terriermon's ranged attack. He was slammed backwards with vicious burn marks peppered across his chest. He yelled in pain, then leapt up and slammed the door before any more of the pellets could make contact.

"Oh yeah!" yelled Terriermon. "That's how we roll! Hopefully he won't be stupid enough to come back in today," said Terriermon with a satisfied finality.

Within half an hour Terriermon had fallen asleep again. Renamon began to feel something else – she was beginning to feel responsible for Terriermon, who she now considered to be her charge. She still hated the little annoyance, but a little of that had just ebbed. He had actively defended her. Again. Despite her snapping at him. He wasn't so bad after all.

Rika was sitting, slumped, on a bench in the park. No luck, whatsoever. None. Renamon was still just as missing as before. She looked around her. The others had their partners. Takato, Ryo, Suzie, Kazu, Kenta, Ai and Mako had all be reunited with their digimon. But she had not, and the only ones who had the slightest clue as to how she must be feeling were Henry and Jeri.

She felt a slight twinge of regret for Jeri. Sure, Renamon was missing, but she was here, in the human world somewhere. Leomon was still as gone as ever. At least Rika had a slight chance of finding her partner. Jeri had none.

"Hey, are you okay," said a voice. She looked up. Henry had walked over from where the other Tamers had been talking.

"Are you?" Rika asked back.

"No," said Henry honestly, but then again, he had always been that sort of person. "But I'm trying to remain upbeat."

"What good will that do?" asked Rika.

"What good will sitting in despair do?" asked Henry. "I'm sure Renamon would not want to see you like this. I know that Terriermon wouldn't. Wherever he is, if he could see us now, you know what he'd say."

Rika nodded. "That's because his advice is always the same."

"And that's because, despite it being rather repetitive, it is good advice," said Henry, "at least it is most of the time."

Rika was silent for a few seconds. "Sorry," she said. "I'm not setting a good example to your sister am I?"

"And do you think she'd care? She's almost as devastated as I am. Lopmon may be her partner, but she cares about Terriermon too. Don't worry Rika. We'll find them. We'll find them if we have to search all four corners of both worlds. We'll find out what happened. And whatever the disagreement between our partners turns out to be, we'll sort it out."

Rika was slightly reassured by Henry's pep talk. So much so that she got up and hugged him. Henry blinked and stood limply, unsure of what he was supposed to do. The fact that Impmon spotted them and wolf-whistled didn't help.

Rika released him and smiled. "Your right," she declared. "Renamon's tough, she'll be fine. And as for Terriermon, he could talk whatever threat he faces to death."

Henry smiled awkwardly back. There was a whooshing noise overhead. Cyberdramon had returned from his hunt for the two missing digimon. Ryo had been apprehensive about allowing him out alone, but in the end, he had relented.

"Anything?" asked the legendary Tamer. Cyberdramon only responded by shaking his head. Ryo, along with many of the others grimaced.

"I saw Yamaki though," said Cyberdramon. "He's coming this way."

"Perhaps he has the answer to my question," said Henry, looking down in the direction that Cyberdramon had come from. Indeed, a black suited blond man appeared in the distance, flanked by two women, one tall and red-haired, the other smaller and equally blond.

Yamaki, Riley and Tally arrived by the hut where they had gathered. Yamaki surveyed the digimon and said, "There was a time where I never thought I would say this, but it is good to see you lot again. Has there been any luck with find the others?"

The downcast eyes answered his question.

"We'll put our resources into finding a lead," he reassured them. "Now, Henry Wong, we conducted tests on the substance you found and we have discovered what it is. It's a gallium electrolyte compound, a substance which is designed for tracking vehicles. A small splodge of it can be fired from a gun to hit the side of said vehicle and it will dry extremely quickly and stick to it, allowing sensors to pick it up. I have no idea what it would be doing on the wall of an office building though."

"It was strange," said Henry. "There were actually two splodges of it about half a metre apart."

"Another mystery," nodded Yamaki, thoughtfully.

"Perhaps, if we could get our hands on some equipment used to track the substance we could sweep the city for other signs of it," said Riley. "We could then visit the places to look for more clues."

"Excellent suggestion, Riley," said Yamaki. "Tally, do you think that you can carry it through?"

"I'm on it sir," Tally turned and walked away, pulling a phone out of her pocket as she went.

"We'll return to HYPNOS," Yamaki informed them. "If we find anything, we shall report it to Henry's father, Janyuu. That is all we can do."

"Let's hope it will be enough," said Rika.

"Indeed," Yamaki said. "In the meantime, I suggest that you head home. It's almost evening."

"Maybe some bread would help," suggested Guilmon.

"Not now," hissed Takato.

"Nah, I could go for bread," said Impmon. "We all missed that."

Takato was buried under pleas from the other digimon. He was about to relent when he found himself picked up by the back of his shirt and turned to face Cyberdramon. He could feel the eyes glaring through the opaque face-mask.

"I am hungry," said Cyberdramon.

"Well, my parents are about to get the fright of their lives," observed Takato.

Ooh, scary dream. It is a little clichéd I know, but I thought it would be a good idea. So sue me. This chapter was a little intense and lacked many humour scenes. But in the next chapter, I can hopefully assure you that Terriermon's wit will return with force. He'll still be a little shaken by the dream obviously, but he's Terriermon, you can't keep him down.

The gallium electrolyte compound sound fancy. I stole the idea from the Thunderbirds movie, as it was used to track Thunderbird 1. If anyone has a better suggestions I'd be happy to listen, but as of now, the name sounds good to me.

That was the second full chapter with the whole sticky thing involved. I am still open to any suggestion that any readers may have. Thanks to BornfromDarkness for reviewing a second time. More reviews would greatly be appreciated.

Next time...

When will Goro make another move? Will Renamon's hatred of Terriermon continue to wane? How will the search by HYPNOS go?

Coming up: - **Chapter 5: On The Defensive**


	5. On The Defensive

Thank you everyone for the favourites and reviews. I must admit this story is getting far better press than I thought it would, but more reviews would be nice. Anyway, I am going to shut up now and continue with what I was doing.

Warning:- One section of this chapter will stretch dangerously close to an M rating. But not quite. Just remember that I once saw a similar situation in Naruto, and amongst other cartoons.

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 5 :- On the Defensive**

* * *

Morning broke over Japan. The day before had been very exciting for most of the populace of Tokyo and many looked to the skies, expecting to see more of the awesome Digimon flying above. But there was no sign of any of them. This was because most of them had fallen asleep at the Matsuki bakery, stuffed to the gills. Only Cyberdramon had remained awake. His entrance to the bakery had been a spectacular one – it had caused most of the customer's and both of Takato's parents faint on the spot.

The two digimon who were not there were now stirring. If stirring is the right word to use, since both could barely move. Renamon opened her eyes from her sleepless night. Terriermon woke up slightly less gracefully – i.e. he jolted awake with a loud snort and yelled, "Tax return!"

"Pardon?" asked Renamon. "Since when did you dream about things like that?"

"Hey, it beats my last dream," Terriermon shuddered.

"Quite," Renamon nodded.

"Good night?" asked Terriermon, stretching his ear in opposite directions as far as they would go. His body, on the other hand, had been frozen in the exact same position for almost eighteen hours and was seriously beginning to cramp.

"Only if listening to you snore your way through it is good," answered Renamon.

"I don't snore," Terriermon objected. "Only Guilmon snores. I merely get a little stuffy." He attempted to change the topic of the conversation. "So, when do you think that Goro git will be back?"

"I'd rather not be reminded of him to be honest," said Renamon. The door opened and Goro entered. "I just jinxed it, didn't I?"

"BUNNY B—" Terriermon found himself smothered in Renamon's tail for the third time in three days.

"Not yet, Terriermon," she said. "Look."

Goro was carrying a tray laden with food, of all kind – fruit, meat, seeds and other things. When you considered the sheer scale of all the creatures in the room however, they would be very meagre when distributed.

"We must allow him to feed these poor creatures," she said to him. "But if he comes anywhere near us, feel free to blast him through the wall."

"Feel free?" asked Terriermon, as Renamon removed her tail and Goro began to circle around the room, pushing the tiny portions between the bars. "But what about us. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry!"

Renamon blanched. This raised a problem she had not even anticipated. "I am not hungry," she lied. Now she was back in the human world the usually hunger was returning to her. She must not eat in Terriermon's presence, or… Oh dear, the thought was almost too much to think about.

"Suit yourself," said Terriermon, then turned to watch the pervert as he edged around the room. "Hey, what's-your-face, Gormog, or whatever your name is, I'm hungry." Goro glared at him. They both watched him reach up and rub his chest through the fabric of his shirt. No doubt he was feeling the burn marks that Terriermon had caused yesterday.

"Yeah, that's right," said Terriermon. "I did that and I'll do it again."

"I am gonna find a way to get past the Bunny Blast of yours," sneered Goro.

"Not likely," said Terriermon. "I _think_ I am more intelligent than you. I'd have researched every one of the digimon if I planned to kidnap one. Not that I would."

"Nothing I wanted has ever eluded me for long," he glowered at the little rabbit, who now had a triumphant and yet slightly silly grin on his face. "You cannot protect your foxy friend for long."

"Can't I?" asked Terriermon, placing one ear over his chin in an imitation of his Tamer when he was thinking. "Just watch me."

"Very gallant," said Renamon drily.

"Don't diss me when I'm being all protective," said Terriermon. "I'm on a roll here."

"Why are you protecting me anyway?" Renamon asked. "It's not like we're friends."

"Meh, I've got nothing better to do with my free time," said Terriermon evasively. "In fact I have _nothing_ else to do with my free time."

This was only a half-truth. Unbeknownst to Renamon, while she did not like Terriermon, Terriermon himself did not hate her. But there was no way he was going to say that. She'd just try and make him.

"Listen," the man approached, but Terriermon warningly opened his mouth, causing him to step back. "I am going to succeed whether you like or not. When you least expect it, I'll make my move."

"You know, I always thought it was stupid when people say that," said Terriermon. When Goro looked puzzled, he said, "When people say that it makes the person they said it to be on guard at all times, even when they have normal lives to live. Saying to me is even more stupid, 'cause now I'll stay on guard, on I don't know, all the time. I don't exactly have much to distract me. Unless you'd be willing to install a TV in here. That would be appreciated."

Then Terriermon found himself vibrating slightly. Renamon was chuckling.

"So, that's what a mobile phone feels like," he said when she had stopped. She chuckled again. "Er, Renamon, are you feeling alright? You haven't laughed at anything since forever."

"Ordinarily I would not find what you are saying particularly amusing," said the fox. "But I suppose it's because you are directing your humour at him," she indicated Goro with her head. "And I hate him more than you."

Terriermon closed his eyes so Renamon would not see how painful that sentence had been. _What is wrong with her? It's just a word and I've stopped saying it. Mostly. Sure, it slips out occasionally but still...I've said I was sorry. What more does she want? Why can't we go back to being friends already?_

Goro carefully slipped a piece of meat smaller than a mouse into the cage holding the jackal. He whirled around, "You may hate me, but trust me you will like me even less when I do what I'm gonna YOOWW!"

The jackal had sunk its teeth into his finger. Terriermon burst into laughter and slumped against Renamon, pointing at Goro with one ear and laughter peeled forth from him. Renamon found it was a strange thing to watch someone in a situation like this laugh so hard. _He's the complete opposite of me. How can he possibly not be serious at this point in time? It makes no sense._

"Careful," laughed the bunny. "You don't seem to have an affinity with canines. You seem to have sustained many injuries since you caught us," he indicated the bruised cheek, bitten finger and his covered chest.

Goro grunted and continued on his rounds across the room. The two digimon watched his progress, Terriermon sniggering slightly. Once the man reached the door, he made to leave but was halted by, "Hey! You forget something?"

"No," said Goro. "Maybe starving you will weaken your spirit."

"So clichéd?" asked Terriermon. "You're a stereotypical perverted twat, you know that?"

Goro ground his teeth and slammed the door. "Toodles!" Terriermon yelled after him. Renamon breathed a sigh of relief, hoping Terriermon wouldn't notice. But being attached to her chest, he felt all of it. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Don't you want to eat? I'm sure you are really hungry?"

"I have told you once before Terriermon, there is a reason why I will not eat with anyone else."

Terriermon groaned. "Oh, we're back on that, are we? Are you really that stubborn? You'd starve yourself to death just to keep your secret?"

"Willingly," said Renamon.

Terriermon rolled his eyes. "You, miss, are hopeless." Renamon gave him her patented death glare, but Terriermon was getting used to it by now.

"You are just as hopeless," Renamon replied. "You made fun of a person you has us almost completely at his mercy."

"Yeah, but that's the crucial point, isn't it? Almost," Terriermon smiled.

"I wish you'd shut up," said Renamon.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it," Terriermon replied.

Renamon just replied with "Ugh. I am in for a long day, aren't I?"

"Yes. Yes you are," said Terriermon, then began to narrate in a David Attenborough impression. "And so the two digimon are now in a dilemma, neither one of them really wanting to be in the company of the other as they wonder. The fox wonders how long she will stay sane in this environment, while the rabbit wonders how long he can getting away with annoying her before he's eaten."

"Not long at this rate," said Renamon.

Silence eclipsed the room once again. Renamon began to contemplate what the Tamers might be doing to locate them. Terriermon stared at the wall and got bored.

"You want to talk?"

"No."

"I thought not."

* * *

There's almost no way worse to start the day than getting up in the morning and deciding you need to visit the bakery, but when you get there and are about to walk through the door, you are suddenly confronted with a snarling, black dragon heading the opposite way.

But such was the fate of one woman, who fainted on the spot as she almost collided with a vicious-faced Cyberdramon.

"That's gotta be a new record," said Ryo, walking out behind him. "The earliest scare of the day. Let's see if we can break the record for the highest number of fainting people at the sight of you."

"Would it count if the same person fainted twice?" asked the next one out the door, Guardromon.

"Yes," nodded Ryo.

"Okay, let me help," the robot declared and picked up a pail, filled it with water and sloshed it over the woman's face. She awoke with a splutter, saw Cyberdramon standing over her and fainted again.

"Huzzah!" cried Guardromon.

"That's not very like you," said Kazu, stepping out after his partner.

"She looks like your mother," was Guardromon's explanation.

"Henry! Princess!" called Ryo into the bakery. "Stop laying about and get out here!"

Both said Tamers started awake, discovering that they had been sleeping, propped upright on the wall and leaning against each other for support. One furious flush on two faces later and a loud sniggering from Impmon, they filed out.

"You guys want to go and check out if HYPNOS has had any results on the whole gallium thing yet?" asked Ryo.

"Better than nothing," said Rika.

"Then climb aboard," Ryo scrambled up the back of his partner and offered a hand down to Rika, who ignored it and clambered on and securely gripped one metallic wing. Henry did the same on the opposite side.

"You sure Cyberdramon can carry the weight?" asked Henry.

"Are you kidding?" said Ryo, as the dragon lifted all three easily and shot towards the two huge towers in the distance.

"Well, I guess the rest of us should start looking again," said Takato.

"Uh-uh," Impmon shook his head. "I gotta get Ai and Mako home. Their parents have probably called the police by now and we won't be the only once tearing the city apart to find someone."

"Good point," said Kenta. "My mother will probably ground me. I didn't tell her where I've been."

"Stand up to," said MarineAngemon from a pocket filled with old crisps.

"I would but then she'd just double the punishment."

"What about you, Suzie?" asked Lopmon.

"Daddy knows about what's happening, so Mum will know too," said Suzie. "I'll be fine."

"Oh crap, we've also got school," said Takato.

"Screw school," said Kazu. "I say we keep looking. This is far more important. Renamon and Terriermon could be in danger."

"You think Ms. Asagi is going to see it that way?" asked Takato.

"Good point," said Kazu.

"Gotta fly," said Impmon. He digivolved into Beelzemon and flew off, clutching his two charges. Jeri, who had been rather quiet throughout the whole process, as she was once again racked with grief about her own lost partner, watched them go and then turned to the others.

"Kazu's right," she said. "This is important. I say that you guys keep searching. I can go to school and explain the whole situation. I'm sure I can get on Ms. Asaji's good side."

"Jeri, I am impressed," said Kazu. "Now, that is what I call "taking one for the team.""

"It's not like I'll die at school," said Jeri, embarrassedly shifted on foot around.

"I don't know, I'm surprised I've survived so long with the way Teach piles on the homework. Tell you what, Guardromon and I will show up briefly. Having a big metal robot around might enforce the point."

Jeri nodded.

"Let's go," said Takato to Kenta and Suzie.

"WAIT! WE HAVEN'T HAD BREAKFAST!!" wailed Guilmon.

* * *

Terriermon was so bored he had almost fallen asleep again. Renamon was refusing to speak. He had tried everything to get her to talk or at least do something short of saying "Momentai" again. He was now trying to do it once again, but his attempts were getting increasingly childish.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with "I.""

Renamon stayed silent.

"Okay, fine. Um, What's Jackie Chan's favourite drink?"

Renamon stayed silent.

"Not in the mood for a joke then, huh? The answer was "WA-TA!" by the way."

Renamon stayed silent.

"Never mind. Er, have you ever had a relationship?"

Renamon stayed silent, but shifted a little uncomfortably this time.

"Me neither," said Terriermon as if Renamon had answered his question. Okiedoke, want a staring contest?"

Renamon stayed silent.

* * *

"Ah, Mr. Wong, Miss Nonaka, Mr. Akiyama," said Yamaki as the three humans and the large dragon entered the main HYPNOS room. "I think I can guess why you're here."

"Has there been any success with scanning for the compound so far?" asked Henry.

"We have yet to attempt it, Son," said Janyuu from a monitor. "We've only just got our hands on the equipment. It took quite a bit of persuasion to convince the special Ops teams to lend us some. Not all of them are in sympathy with the Digimon."

"But we have eventually succeeded," added Shibumi from the corner. "It shouldn't take us very long. This equipment is far less complicated than old Grani was."

"We could use Grani now," muttered Henry. "He always seemed to know something we didn't. Shame he was deleted."

"Yes, I agree," said Shibumi. "He was a magnificent piece of machinery."

"If we could stay on topic..." said Rika icily. "I want to find my partner and I want to find her soon."

"If they are anywhere in the city, we'll find them," said Janyuu, "But if they've been taken out of the city..."

"Don't say that!" snapped Rika. "Renamon's here somewhere. I just know it."

"Interesting," said Shibumi. "Does this have something to do with the link between you?"

"Actually I think she's just in denial," said Ryo. Rika threw him a dirty look. "What? You have to face the facts, Rika. If they aren't in the city the sensors would detect them. Not that that means we stop looking for them. Whatever's happened to them, if we have to organise the whole world to find them, then we will."

"Well said," came a random voice from the crowd, that of Babble.

"The installation is complete," declared Riley from up on the weird mechanical arm that she and Tally often sat in. "Shall we initiate the scan?"

"Yes, the sooner this is over the better," said Yamaki, flipping his lighter in anticipation.

"Activating detectors," said Tally. The map of the city appeared on the domed ceiling above them and a line could be seen moving across it.

"All equipment is stable," said Riley. "Scan of the city 10 percent complete. 15 percent."

She continued to go through each 5 percentage as the line moved across the screen, all eyes fixed upon it. It moved with a slow and steadfast pace and they all watched with bated breath, willing it to go faster. On 50 percent completion a small blip appeared on the screen. "That's the location of the compound you found," said Yamaki. "The remaining fifty percent should give us some more leads."

They continued to watch as the line moved across the screen, but there was a slow sinking feeling as it reached ninety percent with no more blips.

"95 percent," continued Riley. "100 percent. Scan is now complete."

Rika groaned and angrily kicked a computer. Henry sank into a chair and put his head in his hands. Ryo frowned sadly. Cyberdramon's face betrayed no emotion, which for him was a sympathetic look, because he didn't look as though he wanted to rip the nearest person into pieces.

"It's not over yet," said Yamaki. "If there are no other leads then that means that if there is any more gallium compound then it's in a black-spot area that our satellites cannot pick up. Tally, pull me up a list of all the black-spot areas in the city and we'll send operatives to each one."

"Right away, sir," said Tally, typing on her colourful keyboard-like machine.

"If we don't find them in any of these then it probably means they are not in the city," Yamaki addressed the assembled Tamers. "But there is still hope yet.

"Well, let's get going Cyberdramon," said Ryo. "We still have a city to search."

"If we don't find them then I'll resort to pulling each and every building in this city down," said Cyberdramon.

"Not like you to see something like this as anything but a chore," said Ryo, surprised.

"Both of them were useful during our stay in the Digital World," said Cyberdramon. Ryo smirked. As Monodramon, his partner would have been a lot more emotive. That probably explained what was going on here.

"Come on," he said, and turned to leave, glancing once of his shoulder to cast sympathetic looks at the distraught Rika and miserable Henry.

"Good luck, guys," he murmured.

* * *

The day wore on as the Digimon with the added help of HYPNOS combed the city, using all their available resources. Guardromon and Kazu were searching the more urban areas such as the city centre. Suzie and Antylamon continued from the ground and began to make trips out of the city to investigate other areas. WarGrowlmon and Takato began to search more rural areas such as the park. Cyberdramon and Ryo picked up Kenta and MarineAngemon and they all started to search together.

After delivering Ai and Mako to their parents and introducing himself, Beelzemon was back in the action.

But no one was thinking to search the houses.

* * *

Back in their room, Terriermon had given up trying to get Renamon to talk. He constant silence and refusal to answer got on his nerves. He had considered saying "Momentai," just to stop her from staring at the exact same spot on the wall ahead of her. But he had refrained from doing so, with difficulty.

He began to think to himself. _I wonder what Henry is doing right at this minute. I hope he hasn't started to mope about. He shouldn't and if I ever find out he has then I'll personally make sure he never does it again. And Rika? Will she have given up yet? I doubt it, she's as stubborn as Renamon. They are very similar, compared to Henry and me. And the other digimon? Has Guilmon made himself ill yet? Has Monodramon digivolved and blown up the supermarket yet? Has Suzie tried to dress Lopmon up yet? Has Impmon warded away the parent's of his Tamers and convinced them to let him stay? Oh, now I'm thinking about that dream again. Must not think about it.................... DAMN IT! I lost The Game!_

(A/N: For those of you who don't know what I mean by The Game, see at the end)

The door opened once more and Goro stepped in. He was instantly assaulted verbally by Terriermon. "Well, if it isn't The Legendary Furfag."

"How does a rabbit like you even know terminology like that?" he asked.

"The internet is forever," said Terriermon. "Come to feed us yet?"

"No," said Goro. "But I've come to tell you something that you might want to listen to, for your own sake."

"Is this going to be some rambling classic bad guy speech where you declare that you will have want you want and then threaten us with something."

"Yes, actually, it is."

"Then I don't want to hear it."

"But I do," said Renamon.

"Oh sure, you speak to him but not me. What did I ever do to you? ... Never mind."

Renamon sent him a brief glare before turning to Goro. "So what are you going to threaten us with? A whipping perhaps – that seems a common bad guy thing."

"Where do you live – the Middle Ages?" asked Terriermon.

"Actually," said Goro, "although the idea of inflicting pain on the bunny sounds like a good idea and I wouldn't mind give you a..."

"Stick to the point!"

"I am not going to threaten you with physical pain. Instead I am going to inflict emotional pain on you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if you do not meet my demands, which are as follows:- That the bunny allows me to remove him from you and be placed in a cage and that you, foxy, allow me to do whatever I please with you, then I will go after your human friends."

Renamon jerked in her bonds and pulled hard on the ropes, but her wrists remained in place. It was, after all, a special rope designed for catching huge and powerful animals and had a steel core. "If you go anywhere near Rika," she snarled. "Then I will see to it that your last sight will be my fist smashing your face in."

Terriermon said nothing, last night's dream returning to him with a full force. The image of Beelzemon blasting Henry's brains out replayed in his mind's eye. He shuddered, unable to stand the thought of something like that actually happening.

"There will be no need to go anywhere near Rika," said Goro in an oily way. "If you meet my demands. I am going to leave now and give you some time to think it over – a couple of days perhaps. If by then you have not yet decided then I shall go after the Chinese kid and his sister. A bullet to the head might be a..."

"BASTARD!" yelled Terriermon with a viciousness that made Renamon pause in her struggles, but did not find particularly surprising. "YOU SICK, TWISTED FREAK! THEY ARE CHILDREN! CHILDREN! THEY HAVE THEIR WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF THEM AND NEVER DID ANYTHING TO ANYONE AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SHOOTING THEM!"

"As I said," Goro seemed to love the way he had pushed Terriermon over the edge. "I shall return soon. I'll feed you tomorrow, can't have my prizes dying of starvation now can we? If you haven't decided by then that I shall carry my threat down. See ya," he made to close the door and then added at the last moment – "Momentai."

The door clicked shut.

Terriermon began to thrash as much as the gallium electrolyte compound would allow. Which was not much, but he was surprised to feel it give a little, but then halted again. He was filled with an uncontrollable rage. He threatened Henry and Suzie! He must pay! He must die!

"GET BACK IN HERE YOU BASTARD! LET ME OUT OF THIS SO I CAN PUMMEL YOU INTO OBLIVION! IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ARE WORSE THAN DEAD!"

"Terriermon..." started Renamon.

"DON'T TALK TO ME!" Terriermon snapped back, still struggling wildly. "I'M GONNA BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY AND THEN BURN YOU TO A CRISP! I AM GOING TO TEAR YOU TO SHREDS! CYBERDRAMON WILL HAVE NOTHING ON ME, I SWEAR..."

"Nngh...Terriermon..."

"DON'T YOU DARE GO NEAR THEM! I'VE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ANGRY IN YM WHOLE LIFE! A LIFETIME IN HELL IS WHAT YOU DESERVE AND I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A ONE-WAY TICKET..."

"TERRIERMON! NNGH! STOP!"

Terriermon suddenly became aware that his air supply was being cut off. His eyes widened and he began to struggle harder than ever.

"STOP STRUGGLING! URGH!"

Terriermon's fevered imagination made him believe that he was being absorbed into Renamon's chest, but then his rational mind kicked in and he realised that this was not the case. When he figured out exactly what was going on his face flushed with colour, the large bruise still located on his cheek turning purpler than ever.

Renamon's breasts were expanding out of her chest. His struggling had stimulated them to emerge from where they were normally sealed away. Such was the way with female digimon, unless they had clothing they hid their private parts, just as the males hid theirs unless stimulated.

And with Terriermon stuck in position by a large sticky compound that was refusing to budge, he was suffocating.

Terriermon instantly stopped struggling, face still red. Renamon, her teeth gritted and her eyes screwed shut, grunted and slowly her breasts retreated back into their original place. Terriermon breathed a sigh of relief.

After a few minutes of extraordinarily embarrassed silence, Terriermon, still breathless, said, "Well, at least the creepazoid was not in the room."

Renamon nodded. She had the advantage of a face covered in yellow fur and as a result the huge blush she was sporting was hidden from Terriermon's view.

_Oh...dear...god!_ was what she was thinking. _That was not how I ever envisaged it happening. I often wondered when someone would touch them, but I never imagined it would be Terriermon, nor that it would be with his face. What do I do now?_

Terriermon was thinking along slightly different lines. _If i ever get out of me, she's gonna delete me just to make sure the story never gets out. I'm dead, I just know it. Ah well, I'd better make the most of whatever time I have left._

"Now what?" he asked. "You are going to kill me aren't you?"

"No."

Not the answer Terriermon was expecting.

"What?"

"It was not your fault," said Renamon. "You were just trying to get at that sicko, I know that you didn't foresee that coming. I must admit that I did not either. However, if you ever tell anyone about this then I will be forced to delete you."

"Oh, this goes with me to Anubimon's realm," said Terriermon. "And beyond."

"Good. I would never hear the end of it from Rika and Impmon."

After a second long stretch of absolutely no communication, Terriermon said, "So what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About what he said. He said he would go after Henry and Suzie, and then if that wasn't enough, Rika. What are you going to do? I would be more than willing to be put in a cage to save Henry and his sister but what about you? After all, the guy does want to rape you."

Renamon shut her eyes. "I don't know."

And then the impossible happened. It took a few seconds for Terriermon to believe what he was seeing, but there was no denying that the trickle of water running down the side of Renamon's face from her eye was in fact a teardrop. It was beyond belief. But then again, he had never believed that he would nearly be suffocated by a pair of breasts.

"Hey, don't cry. You're ruining your tough image."

"What do I do, Terriermon?" sniffed Renamon. "One way and I lose all my dignity and there is no chance of freedom, the other and i shall be responsible for the deaths of three defenceless human children."

"If only we could get a message to Lopmon," said Terriermon. "She'd protect them."

"But we can't," Renamon was beginning to shake now, as a tear fell from the other eye. The first had reached the base of her cheek and dropped off, straight into Terriermon's own eye. But he didn't complain. That would not have been very sentimental.

"We'll figure out what we'll do tomorrow," he said. "After he feeds us and we've regained our strength. We may not need to make that decision, if we can escape we can put him away for good."

"And what are the odds of rescue or escape?" asked Renamon. "Look at me. I've been tied to the same post for over twenty-four hours – feet pinned, knees pinned, waist pinned, arms pinned and you pinned. That Goro has covered his tracks too well. Unless the other digimon tear every house in the area apart then they'll never find us."

Terriermon was at a loss. What should he say? What should he do?

"Don't give up," he said. "We will not fail."

"We already have," said Renamon, wracked with grief, but still refusing to do more than cry quietly. She refused to wail in despair or break down into vicious sobs. She had not yet descended into a level of sadness that low.

Terriermon reached up with one ear and gently wiped both sides of her face with it.

"Momentai," he said.

And for once, Renamon didn't mind. He said it sincerely and put emotion into it. She even felt grateful towards him. She was so close to defeat that she decided to cling to the one thing she had left. If Terriermon came up with something then she would never insult him again.

After the few tense seconds where Terriermon wondered if she would lash out due to his advice, which was truly the best advice he could really give, he turned his mind to escape. Any possible way of escape began to run through his mind, was turned over and over, and then discarded with a sense of bitterness.

"I need food," said Terriermon. "My brain is refusing to work as well as it should. I'll come up with something when the creep comes in to feed us tomorrow."

_When he comes in to feed us,_ he thought. Then an idea occurred to him. He began to think carefully, comparing it with their situation and he found that if there was any hope whatsoever of escape, then this was it. He didn't voice his plan to Renamon. He did not want to give her false hope.

Renamon, meanwhile, was beginning to feel a sense of panic rising inside her. Panic, like crying, was a completely new sensation to her. She dreaded the coming day and meal-time. If they were forced to eat something, then she would need to eat a meal, with Terriermon. And the Renamon's greatest secret would be unveiled to the little bunny.

Although he was improving rapidly in their current situation, she still could not imagine a person she would want to know the secret even less than Terriermon.

Outside, two agents from HYPNOS had arrived at the black-spot. They looked around them from inside their van.

"Nothing here but houses," said one of the men.

"You think we should check them?" asked the second.

"Nah," said the first. "From what I hear, those two Digimon want to get back to their Tamers. They wouldn't be here unless you think one of the owners of these places is holding them prisoner."

Both men laughed out loud at the ludicrous thought. They instantly stopped when a large leather-clad motorcyclist came roaring down the street and screeched to a halt beside them, leaning in to look through the open window with all three eyes.

It was the first time either of the men, who were new recruits, had been this close to Beelzemon.

"Anything at all here?" asked the Demon Lord, astride Behemoth, which he had found outside Ai and Mako's house when he had returned.

"No," quailed the first man. "Nothing."

"Then stop laughing and get searching you dolts. Those two ain't gonna find themselves, and if you don't stop dawdling and get back on the road, you're gonna have to deal with Berenjena here." The large cannon appeared on his arm and the wings burst from his back. "Got it?"

"Yes sir!" cried the men fearfully.

"Good!" The cannon faded and the wings pulled back into Beelzemon's back. "Get going then." With that, he floored it and streaked away.

* * *

Phew, that was close, wasn't it? I'd imagine that I could have possibly scared a couple of people away from my story for that. But I thought it was a good way to begin the whole thing which will be revealed in the next chapter. Review please, and thanks to you readers who have stuck with me so far. I now have four people who have added me to their favourites. Four. More than I ever expected.

If you don't want to read my story any longer, either bear with me, or go and read a story of Blazing Chaos.

The Game is a game that you play at all times and the idea is that you forget you are playing it. If you remember you are playing it you've lost and you have to tell someone else you've lost. Now that you have heard of it you are automatically playing.

* * *

Next time...

What is Renamon's secret? What is Terriermon's plan? Will it work?

Coming up: - **Chapter 6: The Ultimate Problem**


	6. The Ultimate Problem

Six favourites now. I'm just wondering if I keep those six after they read the fifth chapter. But that's pretty much as mature as it's going to get.

But I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a while. This is the part where we find out Renamon's secret. It is a big one, and please remember when you read it – there are a lot of strange things about different kinds of digimon. So I don't see why anyone should think the secret is a stupid one. This whole chapter is going to be Terriermon and Renamon based, so remember that the Tamers are still going to be looking for them in the outside world.

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 6:- The Ultimate Problem**

* * *

"AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

That was the first thing that came out of Terriermon's mouth when we woke up from a relatively more peaceful night than the previous one. Needless to say, everything in the room that had not been awake at the time woke up with a loud noise, each one adding to the general cacophony that was being produced.

And the reason that Terriermon had screamed loudly and angrily was because his limbs were really beginning to feel the strain. Every twitch of a muscle was painful from the head down. No-one was meant to go this long without moving.

"Are you alright?" asked Renamon, who had once again not slept. A good thing too – Goro had visited during the night, but on seeing that Renamon was awake, backed out before she could wake up her protector.

"No," said Terriermon. "I have got to get out of here! My body feels like it's on fire. I've just by torched by Zhuqster again."

"Ouch," said Renamon.

"I know!" Terriermon whined. "This is inhumane."

"This whole thing is inhumane," said Renamon, looking around the room. "No animal should be treated like these creatures and nothing should be treated like the way we've been treated."

"When I get out of this," Terriermon declared, "I am not going to be satisfied by putting that man in prison. He should be given a taste of his own medicine, I say. I am going to find one of those gun things and paste him to the wall for a week, then put him prison."

"He doesn't even deserve that," Renamon scowled. "If I had my way, he'd be on his way to a slow painful death."

"Such is the way of a targeted woman," said Terriermon in an attempt at a voice full of wisdom, although his silly grin remained in place. Then he straightened it and said, "But you aren't a murderer any more, Rena. You won't do that?"

"Rena?" asked Renamon. "Why have you just shortened my name?"

"Sorry!" cried Terriermon. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't think it'd be a big deal, but it obviously is so I won't do it a..."

"Momentai."

That was Terriermon's first big shock of the day.

"Excuse me?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"I said, "Momentai,"" Renamon answered with a slight quirk to her jaw. Terriermon was flummoxed. She was smiling at him. Him.

"I thought you hated that word," said Terriermon. "Which, by the way, is still mine."

"I did," answered Renamon. "But not anymore. I must have finally gone insane, but I'm beginning to enjoy being in your company."

"Riiiiiiiiiight," said Terriermon slowly. "You like being tied to a post with the person you considered to be the most annoying in the whole world stuck to your chest, do you?"

"Well I could do without the post part and I would prefer it is you were removed from me, but I think that I can live with you around."

Terriermon blinked. "Does this have something to do with last night?"

Renamon nodded. "I appreciate what you did Terriermon. I give you my heartfelt thanks. I'm sure that if you weren't there I would have broken down completely. And that word, Momentai, it actually felt comforting this time. You didn't just say it merely so you could say it again."

"So..." Terriermon paused. "Friends again?"

"Friends again," nodded Renamon.

"Good," said Terriermon. "I was wondering how long it would take for the one-way hatred to end."

"One-way?" asked Renamon, bemused. "What does that mean? Didn't you hate me back?"

"Of course not," said Terriermon, beaming up at the fox.

Renamon frowned. "Why not? I insulted everything about you. I threatened you. I punched you. Everything logically makes me think that you should have hated me even more than I hated you. After all, it was me who started this whole thing."

"Are you actually giving me incentive to hate you?" asked Terriermon. "Because it isn't going to work. I never hated you, I only felt hurt that you hated me after all we've been through with the others."

"But..."

"Come on, Rena," Terriermon snickered when Renamon raised one eyebrow, which was better than a glare any day. "In all the year and a half you've known me, when have you ever, ever seen me hold a grudge against _anyone_?"

Renamon blinked, thinking back across the time since she had met the little bunny. She had been trying to kill Guilmon at the time. But he had not struck at her. He had happily gone off to play. There had been the time she almost killed him and he digivolved to Gargomon. Then the whole incident with the Devas had began soon afterwards, and going to the Digital World to rescue Calumon. He had been brutally attacked by Beelzemon, but had forgiven him. He had been pulverised by Zhuqiaomon, but had forgiven him too. The D-Reaper didn't really count because it was just a confused mass of Chaos.

"Never," she answered.

"Exactly," said Terriermon. "Never have, never will."

Renamon was silent for a few moments. "Thank you," she said. "For everything."

"Quite a turnaround from yesterday isn't it?" sniggered Terriermon. "Then you said I was driving you insane. Now you're saying that I'm keeping you sane. How does that work?"

"That's the irony," said Renamon.

"True," said Terriermon. "Well, I better get thinking about escape routes."

"Do you have anything in mind?" asked Renamon hopefully. If he could pull something off before the man came to feed them...

"Yes," said Terriermon, and Renamon's digital heart leapt. "But I have to wait until mealtime to pull it off. That Goro may have planned this whole thing but he doesn't seem like a great guy for making on-the-spot decisions, especially when it comes to you."

Renamon's digital heart sank back to its original position. She's never been in a situation where she dreaded an event happening at the same time as being impatient for it to come. Feeding time. Escape versus secret. Which side should she think about more.

Terriermon was muttering to himself, no doubt going over the final details of his plan and smoothing out the kinks. Renamon looked down at him and saw his face was set in grim lines of determination, a look rarely seen on the easy-going bunny comedian. Then and there she decided that if she had to, then she would choose escape. Living the secret would be much less painful to her than being the condemner of three, possibly more, Tamer deaths.

But then again, maybe she would not need to eat in Terriermon's presence. It wouldn't matter if he ate in hers, but vice versa...

There was an extremely loud growling sound which came from below Terriermon. Renamon blinked, as did Terriermon, snapped out his planning for a brief moment.

"You're hungry," said Terriermon. It was a statement, not a question.

"Perhaps," said Renamon, "But if you can escape quickly then I shall eat after we are out of here."

"Does that secret of yours still apply then?" Terriermon asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes," said Renamon. "Just because we are friends again doesn't make the secret obsolete. After all, I don't eat with anybody."

Terriermon bit his lip. "That might put a bit of a hamper on my plan, then. Hopefully we can work a way around it though."

"That's it?" asked Renamon. "You aren't going to try to force the secret out of me?"

"Nah," said Terriermon. "Your secret. You've made it quite plain you don't want me to know."

"Alright," said Renamon. "I have a couple of questions?"

"What?"

"How did Goro sneak in last night without me noticing and what did he do with the real Terriermon?"

Terriermon laughed. "Nope, still me. I doubt the Furfag will ever get another one over us."

"He got this far," noted Renamon, tugging at her wrist-ropes.

"Only because he took us by surprise," argued Terriermon. "Were you expecting a large gloop of stuff to come out of a gun?"

"No."

"Me neither. Now, let me think..."

The look of determination returned to his face. Renamon lapsed into silence, not wanting to interrupt him in his thoughts. He was their only hope of escape, she certainly had no ideas of her own. Her training with Rika had always been how to avoid situations like this, not how to get out of them.

The silence stretched as the sun rose higher, dotted with the occasional, "Yeah, that might work," from Terriermon, or something along those lines.

Eventually, the time came around. Renamon's heart began to pound as the door opened and Goro stepped in, once more laden with a tray only slightly bigger than yesterday's. This time he also had a canteen of water, which he was about to give to the animals too. Terriermon had one ear placed on the area where Renamon's heart resided and looked up at her.

"Somebody's nervous," he whispered, as Goro began to walk around the room, being extra-careful when he came to the jackal. "Momentai, I've got everything figured out."

Renamon nodded, tight-lipped and shifting agitatedly.

Once Goro had finished feeding and giving water to everything that was in a cage, he turned to the two post-secured digimon. "Well then, have you thought over my offer you two?" he asked. "Remember, if you have not decided by the end of tomorrow, then the following day, to children are going to meet their ends."

Renamon growled quietly, but Terriermon spoke to the twisted git. He was the one with the plan so she let him take the floor. "We need some more time to decide. After all, you just placed a decision that is practically impossible, bozo."

"Still with the name calling," said Goro.

"Well, you deserve it," Terriermon countered. "Now, food would be good."

"Indeed," said Goro, and he lifted out a plate that appeared to be covered with a variety of leftovers from meals he might have eaten – noodles, vegetables, bits of meat etc. And which also had a glass of water on it.

"That is not what I consider good service," said Terriermon. "I'd like to speak to the manager."

Renamon snorted. Terriermon gave her a half-grin. Goro looked at her with the sick expression that made her tail fluff outwards and the back of her neck prickle with disgust. Goro picked up a pair of chopsticks and picked up what appeared to be a cold lump of lamb. "Open wide my prize," he said.

"Not a chance," said Renamon.

"Seconded," said Terriermon. "I'll take that." He deftly swung one ear under the plate and snatched it from Goro's grasp. He made a lunge for it, but Terriermon passed it over his head to his other ear with a surprising speed and dexterity, that suggested his had done this sort of thing before. He even managed to only spill a couple of drops of the water. Renamon imagined that he might have done it with his Tamer, when Henry had decided he'd eaten enough and Terriermon disagreed.

"Ah ah ah," said Terriermon, as Goro started forward. "All mine. Give me those chopsticks. I'll feed Renamon if I have to, not you."

Goro scowled. Terriermon raised one eye and his throat pulsated warningly. "Very well," said Goro and handed the two chopsticks to Terriermon's waiting ear, which curled around them.

"And now, you can leave," said Terriermon. "I can assure you that she'll eat this. I want her alive and well as much as you do, but for entirely different reasons."

"Just the same," said Goro. "I am going to stay and watch."

Renamon's heart practically stopped. Being forced to eat with Terriermon would be bad enough, but with _him_. She'd rather die.

"In that case," said Terriermon. He lowered the ear still holding the plate and tensed, preparing to throw it against the wall.

"Fine," said Goro. "I will leave you to it. But I expect that plate to be empty before I take it away. The fox will need plenty of energy for what I have in mind."

"Dick," said Renamon. "Get out."

Goro sneered and walked away. Renamon let out a great sigh as relief flooded through her. At least she had avoided that potential disaster. "Now, that he's gone," said Terriermon. "Let's eat."

Renamon blinked. "Terriermon, have you forgotten?"

"About what?" asked Terriermon, who then winked. "To put it in the words of the arsehole, "open wide."" He picked up the piece of lamb in the chopsticks, clasped awkwardly in the thick fingers on his ears and lifted it up to Renamon's face. Renamon gritted her teeth. What was he playing at? Was this it? Was this how her secret would be revealed? She slowly, reluctantly, opened her mouth and watched, heart beating fast as Terriermon moved the lamb forward.

One of the chopsticks snapped at the last second and the lamb felt to the floor.

"Aww nuts," said Terriermon. "HEY PERVEY, NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY THIS BUT GET BACK IN HERE! WE NEED HELP!"

A few seconds later, Goro reappeared, glowering. "What?" he demanded.

"Chopstick broke," said Terriermon. "Couldn't get us another could you?"

Goro grumbled and walked away. When he returned, he had another chopstick. "Thank you," said Terriermon, snatching it from him. "Now, get lost." He looked on with a satisfied smile as Goro stamped out of the room.

"Right, let's try that again," said Terriermon. "Ugh, broccoli. Well, we haven't got much else." He picked up the broccoli and once again began to move it into position. Renamon once again opened her mouth incredibly slowly and screwed her eyes almost shut as the broccoli moved nearer.

Once again, the chopstick, the other one this time, broke.

"Crud, not again. BROKE AGAIN FURFAG! WHAT DO YOU USE, FLOWER STEMS?"

Goro stumped angrily back in and passed another chopstick to the smiling Terriermon, before heading out. Renamon almost laughed. Terriermon was really enjoying this, he was making their captor fetch and carry for them and making demands, when really it should have been the other way round. He found it hilarious, but he only chuckled slightly so he wouldn't accidentally spill the plate.

"Third time's the charm as they say," said Terriermon and once again the chopstick moved up. But this time, both of them snapped.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE!" shouted Terriermon. "LOOK YOU IDIOT! GET US A SPOON OR SOMETHING. SOMETHING WHICH YOU CAN USE WITH AN EAR LIKE THIS WITHOUT BREAKING IT!"

Goro stormed angrily in a minute late, clutching the spoon. "There, are you happy now!" he yelled.

"Maybe," said Terriermon. "If I can actually eat with this thing."

"Why don't you just feed her without it?"

"Are you kidding? I haven't washed them in days and one of them has touched you."

Goro almost growled with frustration and annoyance before rushing out, once again and slamming the door.

"You are enjoying yourself aren't you?" asked Renamon. "Although I have no idea what that was all about."

"Well, I'm hungry," said Terriermon. "I haven't eaten anything in over two days. It's unnatural." With that, he began to dig into what they had been given, using the spoon quite efficiently, as he fed himself the noodles, some bits of meat and a bit of old carrot and stale bread crusts. Renamon watched with a jealous look. She was hungry too, but she couldn't eat with someone else. She just couldn't or... well, it was not a great thought.

Terriermon practically demolished the food. He almost seemed to inhale the first half of it. But then a loud growling noise came again. Renamon's stomach had just made another loud plea for sustenance. Terriermon paused, the spoon half-way to his mouth and laden with cold beans.

"Er, are you sure..." he started slowly.

"Yes," said Renamon firmly. "I will last a little longer before I must eat."

"Is this secret really worth starving yourself?" Terriermon asked. "You know, you could just eat it and not tell me why you aren't supposed to. It'll be like...you know...breaking rules. Like the Tamers do at school all the time. I mean, sure, they get detention but only if someone finds out."

"I will tell why that won't work," said Renamon. "It isn't a rule that we must not eat with others, it is the fact that if we do something happens. Something unavoidable and I would rather prevent it happening."

"Is it serious?" asked Terriermon. "Do you die or fall ill or something?"

"That's just silly," said Renamon.

"And I'm sure that whatever it is you are not telling me is not," Terriermon said sarcastically.

"Not to us," said Renamon. "It was invoked by the very first Sakuyamon, back near the dawn of the Digital World. It is something that, if it happens, we cannot avoid."

"Look, Renamon," said Terriermon. There was a firmness to his voice now and he had a no-nonsense expression, that was, once again, set with determination. "Whatever it is, you say it isn't a bad thing, right?"

"Not necessarily," said Renamon.

"Why not?"

"It depends on who we're eating with," said Renamon.

"Then what's the problem?" asked Terriermon. "It's not like we're enemies any more. We agreed this morning that we were friends again. Unless whatever this secret is, is fatal or causes serious damage to you, I am not going to hang around and watch you starve right in front of me."

Renamon felt touched, but he didn't understand, and she couldn't tell him. If he knew the secret he would certainly disagree.

"What would Rika say to me," he continued. "If, when we got back, you were near death from malnourishment? She'd never forgive me. She's almost certainly heard of our little disagreement by now and I don't need more problems. And as for you, she cares about you. I care about you. We all care about you and I'm sure that any of the others would do the same if they were in my position."

Renamon frowned sadly.

"You are one of the best friends any of us could ever have, and I am going to force-feed you if necessary. Please, just let go of your pride and tell me why you are not allowing me to do this. I do not wish to be the one who lets one of his best friends starve."

Renamon eyes were slowly widening. He really did care. He genuinely wanted to help her through this – he wasn't just trying to get to get the closely guarded Renamon secret out of her. Her mind began to race and she felt a surge of affection for the little bunny. She had hated him, but he had not hated her back. He defended her from a would-be rapist time after time, despite her constant insults and anger towards him. He had comforted her when she had been on the verge of a break-down. He was a true friend. It felt like her brain was running in circles trying to catch up with what was going on. Terriermon's Tamer was in danger and yet she was still at the forefront of his concerns.

It felt like something inside her was trying to force its way out of her. Her insides felt like they were jumping and writhing like serpents. Terriermon had been there for her all along. He had not given up hope and neither would she.

But even she was surprised when she kissed him.

That was Terriermon's second big shock of the day.

He watched, half-amused, as Renamon seemed to go through a bizarre mix of thoughts which was shown by rapid changes in expression. But then she looked down at him and her head practically lunged downwards, putting her neck at a very uncomfortable angle, as she brought her mouth to his own. Needless to say, he was unprepared for such a reaction. What he had considered to be a friendly lecture had caused this?

He felt slightly numb and he had to remind himself he was holding a plate in one ear. He managed to catch himself before he tipped all the remaining contents over the floor.

What surprised him even more was the fact that after a couple of seconds, Renamon still hadn't removed her face from his. He looked into her open eyes, searching their blue depths for any hint of a joke, but there was none. He began to feel her tongue probing his mouth, which was still shut. He opened it to ask a question and it shot inside.

_Ooooookaaaaaay,_ thought Terriermon. _What is going on? Does she want me to respond?_

There was a slight glare in her eyes and she grunted earnestly and she picked up the tempo. _I'll take that as a yes,_ he thought and he began to, hesitantly, unsure if himself, copy Renamon's action. She sighed in contentment, giving him the correct impression that he was doing the right thing.

This lasted for a good two minutes before they broke apart, both breathing heavily and drawing air into their digital lungs. A slightly embarrassed silence started, but Terriermon quickly broke it by saying, "What...was that?"

Renamon smiled. "I thought instead of telling you my secret I'd show you."

"What?" Terriermon didn't get it.

"A Renamon is only allowed to eat with her mate," Renamon informed him.

That was Terriermon's third big shock of the day.

"Say what?" he asked.

"It is part of our culture and part of our magic. My digivolutions have special magical abilities after all, and I know for a fact that a good many digimon consider my species to be extremely attractive. As a result, the first ever Sakuyamon used her magic to create a defence mechanism.

"As you know, Digimon are mated with each other during intercourse," Renamon continued. "And that forms a special bond between male and female that lasts until one of them is deleted. But not when a Renamon is concerned, for although we are warriors, there is still a strong likelihood that we may be jumped and raped by a male digimon many times stronger than we are and then we would be bonded to them against our will.

But thanks to Sakuyamon, mating only forms one half of a bond. The other half is brought into effect when we eat a meal with a male. As you know, eating is supposed to be a social affair. We are hardly going to sit down and eat with someone who has raped us unless we can get away with it.

However, if the eating with a male comes before mating occurs, then we feel an incredibly strong urge to mate with the male which we cannot ignore, and vice versa with the male. This was brought into effect to stop us from getting sloppy with what we are doing."

Terriermon slowly digested this almost overloading amount of information. "I see," he said slowly after he was sure that Renamon had finished speaking. "If I force-feed you then I effectively start some sort of ritual mating affair."

"That's one way of putting it," nodded Renamon.

"I think I now understand why you wanted to keep this secret from the rest of us," said Terriermon. "I never imagined it would be anything like that."

"How many of the others do you think would think of something like that?" asked Renamon.

"True," said Renamon. "Well, I understand why you don't want to eat with me..."

"I'll be happy to eat with you."

"Come again?"

"I'll be happy to eat with you."

"Er..." was all that Terriermon said.

"Come on, Terriermon. I just kissed you. Do you think I would do that merely to show you what the secret did?"

"No, you don't strike me as that sort of person," said Terriermon. Now it was his turn to go into a whirlwind of thought. It didn't add up. Just yesterday she had hated his guts and now she was talking about the two of them becoming mates. It didn't make any sense at all. And yet ... did he feel the same way?

Of course, she had not exactly been the most friendly person in the world the past few days but all the times before that she had been the truest of the true – defending them all, looking after them and doing her level best to save everyone from their own fates like Beelzemon. His previous view on her had been correct – she did forgive easily.

"I always thought you'd naturally go for Guilmon, or perhaps Impmon," said Terriermon.

"As adorable as Guilmon is," said Renamon, "I don't think he'd understand the concept of a relationship. And can you honestly see Impmon getting into a serious relationship with anyone at this point in time."

"No."

"Exactly," but then a thought occurred to her and she felt something like ice-cold fear grip her. "What about you? Do you like Lopmon in that way?"

Terriermon pulled a face. "I really consider Lopmon like a sister to me," he answered. "Do to her what we just did now would feel like incest."

"Ah," Renamon acknowledged. Terriermon looked into her face, which for the first time ever had a nervous expression on it, yet at the same time he saw a glimmer of hope in the bright blue irises. She was the complete opposite to him – much more serious, a much smaller sense of humour, not to mention she was beautiful.0

But opposites _attract_, he thought. He looked up into her face again and grinned. "Momentai," he said, and the ear holding the spoon reached up and wrapped around her head, pulling her back down. Renamon felt a burst a triumph and not a little joy as she responded to the kiss Terriermon instigated with commendable enthusiasm. If she hadn't been tied to a pole at the time it would have been a perfect moment.

Some minutes later, Terriermon broke the kiss, much to Renamon's disappointment, but then she held back her process by saying, "My ear is beginning to go numb." She laughed. Terriermon grinned and moved the spoon to the plate he was still balancing, lifting a hunk of turkey into the bowl and lifting it up.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" he asked. "If I got the gist of what you were saying correctly, if you eat the contents of this plate you've bound yourself to me, correct?"

"You're already bound to me," said Renamon with a quirky smile.

"A joke?" gasped Terriermon in a voice of mock shock. "From Renamon. What's the world coming to?"

"Well, I don't know about the world, but when we escape, I'm going to ensure that if anyone in this city does anything perverted they are going to have to deal with me."

"I'll help you out on that one. Now, back on topic...er................."

Renamon had not even waited for Terriermon to feed her. She had grabbed the spoon bowl in her mouth and pulled the turkey off it, chewed it quickly and swallowed it, almost in one movement.

That was Terriermon's fourth shock of the day.

There was a brief moment of nothing and then Renamon's eyes suddenly glow bright yellow and a tingling, tickly feeling occurred in both of their chests, which moved south and intensified between their legs. Both of them grunted, and then it faded away.

"It has begun," smiled Renamon. "The first half is complete."

Terriermon remained silent, as everything sank in. He was going to be Renamon's mate. Not something he had ever, _ever_ expected. He grinned up at his future mate, who smiled warmly back.

"The sooner you put your plan into motion the better," said Renamon. "We have two reasons to escape quickly. One, to save our Tamers and two, within two days, the overpowering need to mate is going to begin."

"Three, now that I've eaten, I'm going to need the toilet soon."

"Oh yes," said Renamon, shuddering. "Please tell me you will be able to escape before that happens."

"My plan is simple enough," said Terriermon. "Anyhoo, eat up Rena."

Renamon gave him and affectionate look before she began to eat the mouthfuls of food he held up to her mouth. It was very meagre but still, she was doing it, she was actually eating a meal with another being. It was a fantastic feeling. It was exhilarating.

Now and again, Terriermon would pick up a piece of meat and drop it on the floor in a very deliberate manner, before winking at Renamon. But whenever she asked what he was doing, he merely said, "All part of the plan," and refused to explain further. After all the food had vanished down Renamon's throat or fallen to the ground, Terriermon placed down the spoon and picked up the glass of water, downed half of it and then carefully balanced it upwards, allowing Renamon to drink the rest.

After that he was able to hold the plate on its side instead of having to balance it.

Half an hour later, Goro entered the room. "Has the foxy lady had her fill?" he smirked. "Full of energy now are we?"

"GET OUT!!!!!" Goro ducked quickly but still roared in pain as a certain bunny flung the empty plate at him like a Frisbee. It still smashed the top of his head at speed and shattered. Goro stumbled backwards into the hallway and he collided with the wall opposite the door, clutching his bleeding head and yowling in pain.

"Don't think we'll take pity on you, scumbag! BUNNY BLAST!"

Goro had enough sense to turn his back and was sprayed by a hail of energy pellets across his back. He fell to the ground as many of them pelted the backs of his legs and he quickly crawled to the side of the doorframe, before reaching an arm around and pulling the door shut, but not before one well-aimed pellet scalded one of his fingers.

"I take it that was..." said Renamon.

"That's right. All part of the plan," laughed Terriermon. "But that did feel satisfying."

"I don't doubt it. If my arms were free I'd have done a similar thing."

"If your arms were free you'd have sent a volley of diamonds at him."

"How well you know me," she chuckled. "Now are you going to tell me what the plan is?"

"Nope," said Terriermon. "After all, you decided to show me _your_ secret, and therefore I decided to show you _mine_."

"Fair enough," said Renamon. "When are you going to put it into motion?"

"Not right away," said Terriermon. "He might storm back in with a couple of ball-gags for revenge. I can't afford to be distracted just in case he takes advantage of it. In a few hours I'll start what I'm going to do."

"I am beginning to think that I have just bonded myself to a Terriermon fake."

"Well, this is a frightening role-reversal isn't it," Terriermon laughed. "Suddenly I'm the serious one and you're the one making all the jokes."

"Momentai."

"Now that's going too far," Terriermon suddenly took on the air of a teacher scolding a misbehaving schoolchild. "You do not steal your ideas from others. It's very rude. Momentai is my word, not yours. Detention."

"I dare you to do that to Takato's teacher next time you go to that school," Renamon was having trouble controlling her mirth. Seeing Goro injured seemed to bring out the best in her.

"As long as she doesn't bring out a cane. I heard rumours when I was pretending to be a toy that she has one."

And for the next couple of hours the two captive digimon just talked to each other, apart from the occasional shifting on Renamon's part in an attempt to stop the ropes wrapping her ankles, knees and waist to the pole from chafing her too much. They whiled away the time by telling anecdotes to one another. Terriermon's were mostly highly amusing or highly disturbing, or both, one example of both being the time when Suzie had decided to play doctor and shoved a thermometer up his ass. Renamon's anecdotes were mostly of battles she and Rika had gone through. Terriermon promised her that he would make her life more interesting from now on. Renamon said she didn't doubt it for a second.

"Just relax now, Rena," said Terriermon eventually. "Save your strength. I'm sure you're going to want to use it late against the pervert."

"That I will," Renamon shut her eyes and leaned backwards, eagerly awaiting the time where her future mate began his plan.

* * *

There you have it. A Terriermon and Renamon pairing. Still no flaming please. I say that, within reason, anything can happen in digimon. That's the beauty of the whole thing. It's no weirder than the ideas of Blazing Chaos or Chris McFeely.

* * *

Next Time...

Terriermon's plan. Plain and Simple.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 7:- Goro vs. Two Rookies**


	7. Goro Vs Two Rookies

This is it. The chapter where the two future mates attempt to escape. Will they succeed? Or will they remain tied to a post and then both be driven practically insane by an overpowering urge to go into M rating?

Let's find out.

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 7:- ****Goro vs. Two Rookies**

* * *

Renamon's eyes were still shut and anyone would have thought she would be deep in thought, but she was not even dozing. She was listening intensely to any sound from outside the room whatsoever. If Goro decided to return then it might foil Terriermon's plan of escape, whatever it was. The little bunny had yet to say anything about putting his plan into motion, but Renamon could only hope he would begin soon.

Just thinking about Goro made bile rise inside her and she felt sick to the stomach. Nothing about this was right. She tried to think of something else and her mind drifted to Rika and Henry, the poor Tamers who must have been losing hope of ever seeing their partners again by now.

_Well, we'll surprise them,_ she thought, smiling to herself. _But I hope Terriermon starts to take action soon. My ankles are really beginning to hurt now. Damn rope._

_Hello?_

_Gah! What the…_

_Oh, that's not weird at all._

_Terriermon?_

_No, it's Bagheera._

_I think that was the clincher, Terriermon._

_By the way, I quite agree. Damn rope. Just be glad he didn't do some of the things I've seen or heard of on the internet._

Renamon had forgotten this little side-effect of a Renamon being bonded to a male.

_What the hell is going on anyway?_

_Telepathic communication. I can do it with Rika when she is very close by. I'd forgotten it happened between digimon pairs._

_First I've heard of it. Is it just another magical Renamon thing?_

_Yes._

_Ah. Got anything else that you should tell me?_

_Not really, except that, although it doesn't matter here as we're both in the same room, we will always know where the other one is, no matter how far away we get our how many dimensions away we are._

_Handy. Well, can you hear anything? Is Goro coming? It could really throw a spanner in the works if he does. Then what would happen?_

_I can't hear anything. Does this mean you'll start attempting to escape soon?_

The end of this thought sentence was punctuated by a sudden feeling of cold metal suddenly pressing against her chest between Renamon and Terriermon. She gasped and her eyes shot open.

"Sorry," whispered Terriermon verbally. "This is rather awkward."

Renamon looked down at him. She blinked. How, how, HOW, had he managed to get his right arm and leg free from the sticky substance without her noticing. His right ear was wriggling as he pushed it deeper into the widening gap between them.

And in it was the spoon.

"This is tough," said Terriermon. "It's like when you're trying to scoop ice-cream out of the tub but it's practically frozen solid. Fortunately…" he grunted as the spoon cut through another small section. "…There isn't an awful lot of the stuff in this place. Then I'll be able to move onto my other side."

Renamon blinked again. There was still a large portion of the substance plastered to his back and across the parts of her chest where he was absent, but he had certainly made progress.

"A spoon?" she asked. "Why a spoon?"

"Better than a fork and asking for a knife would have just made him suspicious," Terriermon grinned as with a jerk he freed his right shoulder. Now, he was only stuck to Renamon on one side. He passed the spoon deftly to his left ear and began to use it to tunnel into the thick glob of stuff on his side. "That's why I purposefully snapped those chopsticks, but I couldn't ask for a spoon right off or he'd also get suspicious."

"You really thought this through didn't you?" said Renamon.

"Had to," said Terriermon. "One shot at this."

"Have I told you I love you?" Renamon asked.

"No, you haven't," said Terriermon.

"Then I will:- I love you," Renamon kissed the tip of the small horn on Terriermon's head.

"Now, we're starting to scare me," said Terriermon. "That's not like your usual manner at all."

_I suppose I'm just getting excited,_ she thought at him.

"Am I ever going to get used to that?" asked Terriermon. "Nngh. There we go." The spoon had suddenly jerked further forward and Terriermon began to move it up and down to remove the rest of the bit between his left arm and his left leg.

"Rika did," said Renamon.

"I'm not Rika," said Terriermon, his tongue snaking out of his mouth and pressing against his upper lip in a way he had sometimes seen Henry do when working on a school project. Renamon anxiously watched him as he moved onto his leg and began to push the spoon between it and her. Terriermon continued to work in silence as slowly but surely his leg came to be just as free as the other. He was now having to cling onto Renamon's neck with the other ear to prevent himself from hanging by the remaining limb still plastered to the chest of the fox.

"Come on," he whispered to himself, as the spoon began to cut into the last of the stuff that was necessary to remove. The minutes ticked slowly by, two pairs of eyes watching the progress of the spoon as it moved upwards, past his shoulder, past his elbow, past his wrist and then with a final big jerk, Terriermon came free and fell.

He had enough sense to shoot out his ears and, just as he had floated towards Renamon a few days ago, although it felt like it had been years, he gently lowered himself to the ground.

He moved one arm.

He immediately tensed and gritted his teeth, biting his own tongue to stop himself from yelling in pain. His muscles had just screamed at him, as if to say "What have you been doing for the last few days?"

"My muscles are pissed at me," he informed Renamon, who looked down with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"No," said Terriermon again. "But I'll have time to scream later. I need to free you now."

"If you get me out of here, Terriermon, I'll give you a massage every day for the next year. Will that be enough?"

"I don't know," Terriermon mused, but grinned to show he was joking. "One seems to be an awfully short time. Shall we raise it to, say, ten?"

Renamon's eyes narrowed. "Momentai," said Terriermon. "I'm getting this done." With that he rolled over onto his front, grunting with the effort of not screaming as his limbs began to move for the first time in three days. One ear came up and he looped the fingers around the ropes binding Renamon's ankles, and then he used the other to pick up a piece of meat he had deliberately dropped on the floor yesterday. He gently pushed it into a gap in the ropes.

"Um, why?" asked Renamon. Terriermon grinned painfully up at her, then he began to gather up the remaining pieces of meat, leaving only a few still lying around. Then he turned and began to crawl sluggishly away. For one heart-stopping second, the thought that he was abandoning her ran through Renamon's mind, but she quickly squashed it flat with a huge assurance that Terriermon would never do a thing like that.

And the fact that he wasn't heading for the door, and he was leaving chunks of meat behind him every so often. He was heading for a cage. The cage that contained the Egyptian Jackal.

Some idea of what Terriermon was about to do began to build in Renamon's mind.

The jackal shrank backwards as Terriermon approached, although since its cage was so small this didn't do much in terms of increasing the distance between them. It cautiously sniffed the air, taking in the scent of the strange creature that it had observed hanging in the middle of the room recently. It had scented plenty of hostility about the creature, but there was none of that now.

Terriermon painfully reached the cage and began to click his tongue on the room of his mouth. "Hey there, little fella. You alright? Got some food for you. Here."

He slowly pushed one hunk of meat through the bars. The jackal inched forward and then snapped it up hungrily.

"And another," Terriermon pushed a second piece in and the jackal ate that too. Then Terriermon leaned close to the lock.

"Bunny Blast," he whispered and sent a tiny stream at the lock, which peppered it and bent it out of shape, until it was useless and the door swung open. Terriermon then turned and headed slowly back to Renamon, using his ears to peel the remaining stuff off his back as he went.

The jackal stepped cautiously out of the cage, surveying the room in its entirety for the first time. It looked for escape routes and found none, but it did find another piece of meat just in front of it. It snapped that up too, and then it noticed another a few feet ahead, and another beyond that. But those pieces of meat led it closer to the very tall fox in the middle of the room.

But hunger overcame fear. The jackal had been trapped in that cage for a good two years and had been fed just enough to make it cling to life over all of it. Now it had an opportunity to drive some of that hunger away. And it took it with all four paws.

Terriermon watched as it ate one piece, then another, and then it looked imploringly at him. Terriermon moved one ear and indicated the piece of meat he had stuffed into the ropes binding Renamon's ankles. The jackal moved over and sniffed at it, then pushed its nose forward to try and extract it. However, it found itself unable to do that do it began to chew at the rope with its teeth.

"Yes," cheered Terriermon quietly. Then he picked up another piece of meat from the floor and shoved it in place on the rope around Renamon's knees. Then he began to head towards the door. The moment of fear of abandonment returned to Renamon, but then Terriermon scooped something up from the floor and headed back.

This time, he was clutching a jagged piece of the plate he had shattered on their captor's head earlier.

"You are a genius," said Renamon warmly, as Terriermon lifted himself into the air with his ears and came to rest, wrapping one ear and one protesting arm around her elbow.

"Thank you," he grinned. "Albert Einstein's got nothing on me."

"Who?" asked Renamon, a confused look crossing her face.

"Some famous German dude who discovered lots of stuff. I tried to read the Wikipedia page about him but found it supremely uninteresting." With that he began to saw against the rope fibre's carefully, ensuring that he did not accidentally scratch Renamon as he attempted to untie her wrists.

The jackal's teeth suddenly encountered a metal surface. It had reached the thin metal core at the centre of the rope. It reached a paw up and moved it aside, snagging the piece of meat and pulling it out. In the process of getting it, the jackal had loosened the rope enough for Renamon to step out of it.

"That feels so relieving," she said. "Ropes chafe like hell."

"I think my muscles are beginning to calm down, said Terriermon as the fibres parted and the plate chip scraped against the core of his own part of the rope. The jackal was sniffing again and, following its nose, it stood up on its hind legs, leaning against Renamon's leg, and began to pull at the ropes around her knees. The pair worked silently to free the large fox, one knowing exactly what it was doing, the other just hungry.

The plate chip had done its job. Terriermon cast it aside and began to manoeuvre the metal downwards. Renamon straightened her big paws and Terriermon pulled it free. Renamon's arms jerked upwards with him still clinging to them and the fox began to rub her wrists.

"I cannot believe I once considered you to be a pest," said Renamon, as she scooped her aching future mate off her arm and gave him a proper hug.

"Ow," said Terriermon.

"Sorry," Renamon adopted her usual serious face. "Let's keep going."

The jackal had successfully extracted the last bit of meat and was chomping happily on it. Terriermon leapt down and hold it steady as Renamon slowly lifted one leg an then the other, sliding it out of the loops. Now she was merely pinned to the post by her waist.

"This will feel satisfying," she declared as she reached down with her arms and shredded the shreddable parts of that rope with her sharp claws, and within five seconds the rope was merely the thin core, which Renamon, fluid as a snake, slipped downwards and out of. She kneeled on the floor and placed her hands on her knees.

"Terriermon," she said. "A fantastic plan, if I do say so myself."

"Thanks," said Terriermon, getting to his feet and rolling his shoulders. "Urgh. Ow. Gnee. It is going to be a while before I can run again." He leaned over and began pressing one of his legs. "I'm going to hold you to that massage thing, but perhaps not for the whole year."

"Perhaps?" Renamon raised one eye.

"Alright, not for the whole year," Terriermon grinned. "And, of course, credit goes to Jackie here," He jerked a thumb at the jackal loitering in the background.

"Jackie?" enquired Renamon. "How original."

"What?" asked Terriermon indignantly. "I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but Jackie can be either can't it. I'll give it a better name when I find out."

The jackal, temporary dubbed Jackie, slunk over timidly to Renamon. Renamon looked down at it and held up one hand for it to sniff. The jackal did so and allowed Renamon to place her paw on its head and ruffle its ears.

"Hey, hey, hey," said Terriermon. "I though that treatment was only reserved for me."

"I don't know what you're complaining about," said Renamon. "I'm going to do a lot more to you than I would ever do to this jackal."

Terriermon flushed. "Right, so now, we're out of that, shouldn't we make for the…"

Goro swung open the one exit and entrance.

"…door," finished Terriermon.

Renamon hurled herself forwards and slammed full force into the perverted man, who cried out as Renamon forced him against the wall and pinned him there with one foot pressed against his chest.

"I knew you wanted me," Goro said, but there was no triumph in his eyes now, only fear.

"You, my little bastard," snarled Renamon, "Are about to find out that the place where you're going after you die will be a picnic compared to three minutes with me and my claws.

"Easy," said Terriermon. "Leave some for me too."

"Of course," said Renamon.

Renamon grabbed the man by his shirt and bodily flung him into the cage room. He hit the post with a resounding crunch and slumped, unconscious.

"That…felt great," said Renamon bitterly.

"Shame I'm not big enough to do that," sighed Terriermon. "Now, I said before that I wanted to give this guy a taste of his own medicine and I meant it."

"I'll check the house," said Renamon and then darted away. She sprung across the corridors, leaping from wall to wall and occasionally the ceiling, before bursting through a door two feet first and knocking it clean off its hinges. It was clearly the master bedroom of the house as there was a huge double bed in the middle, but around it was a lot of other stuff that made Renamon shudder.

"So, is this what he had planned for me?" she wondered aloud.

Hanging from around the walls were numerous pieces of equipment that one might expect from a pervert like Goro. Many different types of gag, piles of rope, chains and other things which Renamon did not recognise, but was sure was a human contraption that was designed for mating.

"I'd imagine that the guy doesn't get many house guests," said Terriermon as he entered the room behind her.

"Aren't you guarding the bastard?" asked Renamon.

"Please," scoffed Terriermon. "In a combination of me smashing a plate over his head earlier and you smashing his head over a post just now he's out like a broken light bulb for now. I left Jackie chewing on his shoe. That dog has an appetite as big as Guilmon's."

"Can you blame him?" asked Renamon, then she spotted what they were looking for. She strode over and pulled a gun out of a half-open cupboard.

"Check the ammo," said Terriermon. "Don't want to shoot him with a real bullet do we."

"That would not be a good idea, despite the appeal," Renamon checked it and it was indeed full of a packet of gallium electrolyte compound. "I am going to enjoy this."

"You mean _we _are going to enjoy this," said Terriermon. "I always wondered what it would be like to fire a real gun. Maybe we should ask Beelzemon."

"Come on," said Renamon, turning around tapping her shoulder. Terriermon lifted himself upwards and glided to his perch on it, and then held on in the way he would normally hang on to Henry.

Renamon strode back to the room with her passenger, relishing the fact she was able to use her legs properly again. Upon reaching the door she had a thought. _I wonder where his henchmen are._

_Probably doesn't want them to get any idea and only calls them when he needs them for hunting. Wanted to keep his prize to himself._

_This relationship makes surprise Christmas presents pointless, doesn't it_? Renamon smiled.

_Yep. Now where's Jackie?_

The jackal came around from behind the back of the unconscious Goro and looked up at them framed in the door way. Terriermon clicked his tongue and the jackal approached, still cautiously, but a lot less so than before.

"Can we keep him?" asked Terriermon.

"I don't see why not if we can get away with it," said Renamon. "But you told me he was a rare species. The humans might disagree. And he'd probably have to stay with me at Rika's. Henry's place seems to be overcrowded as it is. Now, let's do this."

She raised the gun and pointed it squarely at Goro's chest. She was about to pull the trigger with one thick claw, when she felt Terriermon's ear come up and curl one thick finger around it from the other side. She glanced sideways at him and he grinned slightly sheepishly.

_One…_ he thought at her. _Two…THREE!"_

They both squarely pulled the trigger at the same instance. The globular stuff sailed forward with a quiet sound compared to the loud bang of a usual gun and coated itself over Goro's upper torso and the post. The two digimon fired twice more, to secure his lower torso as well and then glue his legs to the floor.

"And that, Charlie Brown, is what revenge is all about," said Terriermon, letting go of his grip on the gun. Renamon then tossed it casually aside to land in top of the cage containing the crocodile.

"Come," said Renamon, lifting one arm up and rubbing a finger between Terriermon's shoulder-blades, causing him to groan as the muscles smoothened out. "I have no wish to stay in this house for longer than necessary."

"I'm with you," said Terriermon.

"I know," Renamon replied.

Just as they were about to turn to leave, Goro stirred and awoke in a slow and groggy way. Naturally, finding himself unable to move, he began to thrash wildly, but he had considerably less effect in doing this than he would have liked, i.e. None whatsoever.

"And so, the git who thought he could get one over the digimon found himself trading positions with them," said Terriermon. Renamon chuckled. The jackal peered out from behind her legs at the man who had starved it for so long.

"How dare you turn my own weapons on me," snarled Goro.

"Well, maybe you should have fed us properly then," Terriermon accused.

But Goro was looking to Renamon. "I knew you had a kinky side to you, you foxy girl."

Terriermon growled and prepared to launch himself at Goro, but Renamon stopped him. _Don't. He's right. I do have a kinky side. In fact, what I think would be real torture for him, would be to show him what he wanted to have, but not with him involved._

Terriermon blinked, and then a wide grin broke out across his face. _I'm all for that._

Renamon glared at the man and said, "You are right. Allow me to demonstrate."

For a split second Goro believed he was going to get what he wanted, but then that shattered as Renamon scooped his nemesis, the bunny, off her shoulder and then pressed her lips to his, and they began full-blown French-kissing in front of him. He stared longingly at them going at it for a good minute before they broke apart.

"And that's all you're ever going to get from me," Renamon scowled at Goro, and, placing Terriermon back on his perch, she turn with a swish of her tail and walked out of sight, the jackal on her heels.

* * *

Three days. Three whole days where the other Tamers had found their digimon, but Henry's and Rika's remained as lost as ever. The third day was drawing to a close, the sun sinking orange in the sky, and the Tamers had gathered at Rika's house to share the fruitlessness of their search.

"We must have covered the whole city," Takato muttered, sitting by his equally glum partner. "Surely we would have seen them by now if they were still in the city."

"We can't give up yet!" wailed Suzie, Lopmon perched on her head with her eyes shut and sighing frequently. "We have to find them."

"Couldn't agree more," said Guardromon. "And find them we will. Hope has not left us yet."

"But it almost has," Rika quietly said, staring at her reflection in the pond and not wanting to look at anybody else.

"That's not the Rika I know," said Kazu. "The Rika I know would still be up and looking. The Rika I know would barely stop looking for food or sleep. What's happened to you?"

"He has a point," said Impmon. "For once."

"Hey!"

"Kidding," said Impmon. "Jeez, I'm just trying to lighten the atmosphere. Well, I'm not giving up on them just yet. I'm never gonna give up on a friend again."

"You hear that, Rika?" Henry walked over and sat down by the redhead, staring into the eyes of her reflection as the real eyes would not look up. "We're not defeated yet."

"Yes, we are," Rika said through gritted teeth. "Renamon would have been back here by now. She would have returned unless something terrible had happened to her. She must have been deleted. No other explanation comes to mind."

"Perhaps she's trapped somewhere," suggested Takato.

"Don't talk dumb, Takato," said Kazu. "She can shift."

"No, she can't," said Ryo. Everyone, except Rika, turned to look at him, but Rika was still listening intently. "Renamon can't shift. But she can move very fast and she has what is known as a perception filter, which means she can make people not notice her unless she wants them to, which makes her invisible to all when she wishes to be. If she's trapped somewhere, she can only hope we find her. Have we tried looking in places like sewers? That should be our next target."

"Stinky," said MarineAngemon.

"No doubt," agreed Kenta.

"You can't give up Rika," said Jeri. "You're making the same mistake as me. When I lost Leomon I fell into a state of depression as you know, and that was used against the whole team. Don't fall into that trap!"

"Jeri's right," said Henry. "We're all here for you, and we're gonna keep looking. Terriermon's still out there somewhere too, and we're gonna find them both."

"I just hope they aren't stuck in the same place," muttered Guilmon. "They haven't exactly been getting along recently."

But Rika didn't hear this part. She was touched by the words of Henry and Jeri and then she did the first thing which came to mind, she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Henry's neck. Henry once again went slack, unsure of how to respond. He saw Jeri vigorously nodding her head and he slowly, worriedly and gently wrapped his own arms around her.

Even Impmon didn't have the heart to take the rip out of them, though there was a slight grin on his face.

Cyberdramon was standing on Renamon's usual spot on the wall beside the gate. Situations like this were not in his field, and he preferred to keep out of affairs unless there was a battle involved, though he did listen to what was going on below. The dragon was scanning the area around him, searching for any sign of a threat. He always maintained a constant vigil, so that he could both protect his Tamer and so that he could be the first into the fight.

Right now, he was staring with a hostile expression at a woman and her son walking quickly past, laden with shopping. They both picked up the pace when they noticed the Ultimate looking their way.

Cyberdramon watched as they opened the front door to their house, four houses down from Rika's, with click. But at the same time, the door on the house on the opposite side of the street to the two humans was smashed open with a force that suggested it had been kicked. Cyberdramon's gaze turned towards this disturbance as the woman hurried her son inside and slammed the door.

Under the face-mask, Cyberdramon's eyes widened as he saw a certain yellow fox step out from the broken-down door. On her shoulder was a certain white bunny and in her arms was a small half-starved dog.

_Four houses down,_ thought Cyberdramon. _Have they been there the whole time? Nrgh, that's frustrating._

"Ryo!" he called down.

"What is it?" asked his Tamer.

"I'll be back," Cyberdramon then took off.

"But…" Ryo started as he saw his partner disappear from view. He sighed. "Cyberdramon's a rule unto himself. I hope he doesn't devour anything. That lamp-post incident was embarrassing."

* * *

Renamon, Terriermon on shoulder and Jackie the jackal in her arms stepped outwards from the door, shielding her eyes from the bright light that she had not seen for so long. Terriermon did the same.

"This street looks eerily familiar," he said.

Just then, Cyberdramon landed right in front of them with such force that he caused a large crater in the pavement.

"That would be because you've been here many times before," he snarled.

"Monodra… er… Cyberdramon?" Terriermon exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you come out," said Cyberdramon. "Rika's house is just over there." He pointed with his snout and sure enough they could see the familiar white and blue garden wall that surrounded Rika's house.

"You mean we were that close the whole time?" blurted Terriermon.

"What were you doing in there?" Cyberdramon growled.

"Let's just say we ran into some trouble when we got back into this world," said Renamon.

_You gonna tell him the whole story?_

_I'd rather that nobody knew the whole story just yet._

_Similar thoughts._

_I know._

"What is that?" Cyberdramon sniffed the jackal.

"A friend," said Renamon. "Now if you'll excuse me, we have something we need to do."

Cyberdramon was confused. "Aren't you going back to your Tamers?"

"We will," said Terriermon. "But there's one thing we need to take care of first. And, if I recall correctly, it's that way," he pointed with one ear past Rika's house."

"Right," Renamon hared off in that direction.

"See you later, Cybs!" yelled Terriermon. "Momentai!"

Cyberdramon snarled. He hated that nickname that the rabbit had given him. And Terriermon had said that word and Renamon had not reacted at all.

"I am going to find out what's going on," he growled as he took off and flew the short distance back to Rika's house.

* * *

Ryo had almost no warning and his partner suddenly swooped down and said, "I saw them! Quickly!" and grabbed him in his clawed hands on the arms and took off, Ryo dangling ungainly beneath.

"You saw them?" he asked, as Cyberdramon placed him unceremoniously on his back.

"There!" Cyberdramon pointed with a claw at the three mammals, one from earth, two from the digital world, below.

"Where are they going?" asked Ryo.

A growl was Cyberdramon's only response.

"Well then, let's find out," Ryo said, and Cyberdramon swooped lower, barely keeping pace with the running fox Rookie, despite being airborne.

"HEY! GUYS! WHAT'S GOING ON?" shouted Ryo over the wind.

"HEY RYO!" Terriermon waved. "THAT WAY TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION ISN'T IT?"

"YES! WHY!"

"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! MOMENTAI! WE WON'T BE LONG!"

Renamon suddenly increased her speed, which caused a loud yip from the jackal in her arms. Cyberdramon and Ryo quickly lost sight of them. "We know where they're going," said Ryo. "Let's go."

"Right!"

* * *

Policewoman Kaori received quite a shock when suddenly, Renamon and Terriermon and their jackal companion appeared at the doorway of the police station and shouldered it open.

"What the… Hey, aren't you one of those Digimon creatures?"

"Yes, yes we are," Terriermon hopped downwards and onto the thin sill in front of the Plexiglas that was in between them. "I'm Terriermon, and this is Renamon."

"Hello," said Renamon.

"We think you might want to know of a pervert that lives in this area," said Terriermon. "A Furfag actually. A kidnapper and a poacher. All rolled into one. Not a pleasant mix, huh?"

"Er…" Kaori faltered, unused to dealing with Digital Monsters.

"We have brought some evidence with us," said Renamon, raising the jackal slightly. "The man has been collecting rare animals from across the world in secret for years. His name is Goro and this is one of his collection."

Kaori looked at the jackal and said, "Is that a fox?"

"No, she is," Terriermon quipped, jerking a thumb at Renamon. "It's an Egyptian Jackal – a very rare species. If you'd be willing to follow us we can show you to this git's house and you can see for yourself. He tried to poach us, and would have gone a lot further than that if he could."

"You mean he succeeded in poaching us," said Renamon. "But we escaped."

"Exactly."

"Um," said Kaori. "C-can you describe the, er, suspect?"

"No suspect about it," said Terriermon. "We got him pinned with his own trap. Just come with us and we'll show you."

"Er, it's not that simple…"

"Afraid to trust our word because we're digimon?" Renamon narrowed her eyes.

"No, but, well, I'll need to confirm that that is actually a rare species and…"

Renamon stepped forward and carefully holding Jackie in one arm, she used the other lifted a patch of fur on her waist. "You see this?" she asked.

Kaori frowned and looked at what Renamon was showing her. "Is…is that…rope burn?"

"Yes, it is," said Renamon. "That pervert tied me to a pole with the intention of rape and he would have no doubt gone on and done it days ago when he first caught be had it not been for my brave companion here."

"She's talking about me, not the jackal, just so you know," smiled Terriermon. "And here's some more." He reached up with an ear and pulled a stray piece of the sticky gallium compound off Renamon's chest. "He used this stuff to capture us."

"But this is gallium electrolyte compound," gasped Kaori.

"Oh, so that's what it is," said Terriermon. "Since when do you capture criminals with it?"

"We don't, but we use it to track vehicles. A government agency asked us two days ago if we could let them borrow some equipment to locate this stuff. Er, the Digimon one, what's it called…?"

"HYPNOS?" asked Terriermon.

"Yes," said Kaori.

"Good ole Yamaki then," said Terriermon. "How's the blond dude anyway?"

"Focus please," said Renamon.

"I'll call up a squadron," said Kaori. "We'll f…"

Cyberdramon had just landed outside. "You two," said Ryo, climbing off his back, "have got some explaining to do."

"Just call the squadron," whispered Terriermon. Kaori nodded and did so. "Hey, Ryo. How's it?"

"Where have you two been? Rika and Henry have been worried sick. And what's with the jackal."

"We shall answer some of your questions later," promised Renamon, keeping a firm grip on Jackie and the jackal tried to sniff the new stranger. "But there are some things about the last three days that we wish to keep to ourselves for the time being. Rest assured when we say we did not stay there in that house of their own free will?"

"House?" asked Ryo. Evidently Cyberdramon had not filled him in completely.

Just then, a squadron of policemen ran in. Terriermon cheered. "Okay, dudes. We're about to play a game. It's called "Follow the Digimon." We're gonna lead you to a right bastard of a criminal, but don't worry, he's not a threat any more."

"But he has henchmen who may be," said Renamon.

"Go, go, go," said one policeman who appeared to be in charge. Renamon picked up Terriermon and darted out of the door, past Ryo and Cyberdramon, the former of which looked on, confused, as the police squad ran out after them. The latter looked angry, but that was just usual.

"What the hell happened to them?" wondered Ryo aloud.

* * *

Within five minutes a stream of police cars had followed the running fox back to the house. The men leapt out and followed the fox inside. Renamon came to a stop by the door and looked in. Goro was still there, desperately trying to free himself, but he had made no more progress than when they had left him there.

"Here he is," she said. "His bedroom is down that way, with a pile more evidence, as if it were needed."

The men gaped at the chirping, shrieking occupants of the cages lining the walls. "We've stumbled on something big here, boys," said one.

"And I want you to make sure all of these animals go to good homes," said Terriermon. "No more than they deserve."

"We'll do our best," assured the same man and he took out a knife and began to cut Goro loose. Another man got the handcuffs ready.

"Let us know when you've finished," said Renamon, ruffling Jackie's ears and then looking to Terriermon.

_Well,_ she thought. _Time to face the music._

_At least we'll see our partners again,_ grinned Terriermon. _At last._

Renamon nodded and a bubble of joy rose in each of them. "We'll be at the house with white and blue walls down the road," said Renamon.

Terriermon hopped down and the two made to walk off together, but then Terriermon spun around and said, "Oh, by the way, you will find many injuries covering that man, but just remember that it was self-defence."

* * *

Hooray, they escaped. All I've got to say really. Thanks to Rainbow35 and BornFromDarkness for reviewing.

* * *

Next time…

Renamon and Terriermon are reunited with Rika and Henry.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 8:- ****How Much To Tell Them**


	8. How Much To Tell Them

* * *

Okay, to all my faithful reviewers – Fireangel08, BornFromDarkness and Tamara Caitlyn (Glomps? Why?) believe me when I say that this fic is far from over. I am trying to think of an appropriate story to continue but using the Dark Masters, crossing over with Adventure, or having an attack of the Demon Lords are all ideas that have been used so often it would seem like copying, so I'm trying for another very powerful evil Digimon, but no ideas really spring to mind. Any ideas?

Yay! The Reunion! I wanted to write this chapter for a while.

Just so you all know I don't expect to update soon. I've got two things converging on me – a massive essay on a Greek play called Lysistrata, dirtiest play ever, and a course for filming wildlife over the weekend with a company called Wildeye. I'll do my best, but for now, read this, as Terriermon and Renamon struggle to conceal the fact they are together for a while. Who's gonna find out first, eh?

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 8:- How Much To Tell Them**

* * *

Ryo was more confused than he had ever been in his life. What the hell were Terriermon and Renamon doing in a police station? And they had just gone haring off again as soon as they arrived followed by a squadron of grim-faced policemen. And what was with the jackal Renamon had been holding? Where had that come from?

Cyberdramon knew little more than him, and the dragon wasn't a great source of information at the best of times, and so Ryo, confused and muddled, sat astride his partner's back as Cyberdramon descended back into Rika's garden.

The rest of the Tamers and their digimon, along with Rika's mother and grandmother, Rumiko and Seiko, were gathered there, wondering what on earth had happened. Cyberdramon had scooped Ryo off the ground and just flown off, shouting something which only Ryo had actually heard. Yet none of the digimon had sensed a bio-emergence or anything of the sort.

"What was that all about?" voiced Impmon as Ryo hopped down with a frown on his face. "Did he spot a bird and think it was an enemy?"

Ryo shook his head. "I don't quite know how to say this... but... well..."

"Just spit it out, Mr. Perfect," snapped Rika, still slightly irritable. Rumiko sent her a disapproving look which completely failed to have any effect on the irate red-head.

"Let's just say, your partners are acting very strangely," Ryo said, looking at her and Henry.

"Our pa... you mean Terriermon and Renamon?" Henry got to his feet. "He saw them?"

"Yep," sighed Ryo, "But what they were doing is anyone's guess. They went to the frigging police station and then led a whole squadron away on some random thing. Not sure what though. They were acting very weird, weren't they Cyberdramon."

A grunt was Cyberdramon's response. But in his mind he was thinking. Cyberdramon did actually think about more than fighting and eating, but the fighting impulse always won out over rational thought in a battle situation. Now was not one of those times.

_Something isn't right,_ he was thinking. _Terriermon said Momentai and Renamon didn't react at all. What happened to them in that house over those three days? I'm gonna find out what the hell is going on._

"We gotta go find them," said Rika, pulling out her D-Arc and finding to her utmost relief that the static had vanished and the locater arrow had returned.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," said Ryo. "Terriermon said that they'd be here soon and they just had to take care of something."

"Any more specifics?" asked Henry.

"No," said Ryo.

"Where have they been?" asked Lopmon, hopping off Suzie's head and approaching the two. "And why are they working together. The last I saw of either of them, they were almost at each other's throats."

_They have no idea,_ thought Terriermon, watching the proceedings from the top of the wall under Renamon's perception filter. _We were so close to each other's throats I could wrap my ears around yours._

_Indeed,_ Renamon thought back. _But I cannot wait any longer. I must go and join Rika._

_Are we going to tell them? About us? About what happened?_

_I would rather you left that part to me. I may have improved, but the idea of me being tied up is embarrassing._

_Okay,_ Terriermon nodded and then hopped off the wall and into the road, so it would look like he had just run down the street to see them. His legs almost buckled underneath him as his still aching muscles protested. He gritted his teeth and grunted and then pasted a silly grin across his face that reflected his mood and caught an air current with his ears, flapping upwards and whipping around the open gate.

"HENRY!" he cried joyfully and slammed with such force into his startled partner that he fell backwards into the pond that the Nonaka's owned.

"RIKA!" Renamon leapt down from the wall, sailing over Cyberdramon, Ryo, Takato, Ai, Mako, Lopmon and Suzie all at once to land right in front of her Tamer and sweep her into her arms in a massive hug that lifted Rika off her feet – Renamon was a lot taller than she was.

"Terriermon?/Renamon?" said both surprised and bewildered Tamers simultaneously, before blinking, recovering their wits and returning the hugs their partners were giving them with a joyous laugh, although Henry was now soaked to the skin and had to be hauled out of the pond by Guardromon.

There was an instant outbreak of babbled questions from Digimon and Tamer alike, asking Renamon and Terriermon where they had been, what had kept them away, what had they been doing just now and other besides. These were ignored by Renamon and Terriermon who refused to stop hugging their Tamers.

Once they had stopped however, they were once again bombarded with questions until Renamon raised a paw and they all fell silent, expectant, wondering what sort of wild tale the two of them were going to come out with.

"One question at a time please," said Renamon.

"Renamon, where've you been for three days?" Rika asked, worry evident in her features and voice. "You had me scared to death. We were beginning to think you'd been deleted."

"No, _you_ were beginning to think they'd been deleted," interrupted Kazu. Rika ignored him, to her credit.

"We were...shall we say...detained," said Renamon.

"What's that mean?" asked Suzie, but in a happy voice as Terriermon hopped off Henry's chest and enveloped her and Lopmon in a massive hug with his ears.

"It means that we were unable to come back of our own free will," sighed Renamon. "I am sorry, Rika, but we were captured by a mere human."

Gasps issued from most mouths. Only Cyberdramon, Guardromon and Terriermon did not do so, (although with Guardromon it was only because he didn't breathe). Terriermon decided to head off a big stream of questions he could see coming, by saying, "Yeah. A human with a bunch of burly henchmen wielding guns that shot out a substance which glues you to walls. Don't put yourself down, Rena...mon. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we were only caught out because we weren't expecting an attack like that from a human."

Renamon said nothing, but looked gratefully at her future mate, who winked back.

"Who was it?" asked Guilmon, eyes narrowed. "We'll deal with them!"

"No need buddy," Terriermon landed on his head. "Fathead's already on his way to jail. We won't need to worry about him again."

"Of course, many far ruder words spring to mind," said Renamon. "But there are children present." She looked down at Ai and Mako. "I don't think we were ever really introduced. My name is Renamon. You must be Impmon's Tamers."

Ai and Mako nodded mutely, eyes wide as the fox which was so tall that they only came up to its knee smiled down at them. Then to the surprise of the others, Terriermon flapped up and landed on Renamon's shoulder, eliciting no reaction of annoyance from Renamon whatsoever. "And I'm Terriermon," he said.

Glances were passed between many of the digimon. Something bug must have happened during that period of three days for those two to be getting on so well. There was almost a silent agreement to press them for information, so Guardromon stood up to the plate and asked, "Who was this fiend? And why was he so interested in you?"

If Renamon had been any other female digimon she would have shuffled awkwardly as she replied, but she kept her face perfectly straight as she answered. "He was a collector. He had been across the world and added many unique and rare animals to his collection. We were merely the next on the list. Some of his men just happened to be at the scene where we emerged into the human world."

_Well, that's true,_ thought Terriermon. _Hopefully we won't have to lie too much_.

"I must say though," said Renamon. "I'm not sure how long my sanity would have lasted if it hadn't been for Terriermon. His buoyant cheerfulness kept me going. This is why we have decided to put aside our differences and become friends again."

_Also true,_ thought Terriermon.

"Good thing too," he quipped. "Not sure my other cheek will have lasted as long otherwise." The bruise she had inflicted on him was beginning to find. He rubbed it ruefully and grinned. "There was a time when that would have deleted me. You're losing your touch."

Renamon raised one eyebrow. "Oh, am I?"

"Yep."

"I resent that. I am just as fit and able to fight as ever."

"If you say so."

"I do say so."

"Then prove it. TAG! YOU'RE IT!" Terriermon brought one ear down on Renamon's head and then hurled himself aloft, gliding away.

"Terriermon, now really isn't the time..." started Henry, worried for his partner's safety against a potentially angry Renamon. But he was cut off, as seemed to be happening so much these days, when Renamon leapt after him, calling, "Come back here!"

"Gotta catch me first!" yelled back Terriermon.

"No challenge at all," Renamon smirked and pursued the gliding bunny around the garden, bouncing from floor to wall to wall to the little bridge over the pond to wall to house wall to Guilmon to wall to roof to ground over Cyberdramon to wall and so on and so on. Terriermon giggled madly as Renamon chased him.

"You've slowed down," he jeered playfully.

"I am merely prolonging the chase. It is more fun that way."

The others all watched with a sense of bewilderment. Renamon never played tag with anyone. Ever. That was the traditional Guilmon, Terriermon and Calumon game. They had asked Renamon to join in many times but she had always refused.

"They're not letting on everything," said Impmon, suspiciously.

"Embarrassing," said MarineAngemon.

"He's right," said Lopmon. "If they don't want to talk about what happened to them then we should respect their wishes. But I hope they tell us soon before my imagination begins to run riot."

"If they don't want to tell us then what happened to them could be worse that what could imagine," Takato worried.

"With you, that's pretty doubtful," said Kazu.

"Hey!" shouted Takato.

"HEADS!" bellowed Terriermon. Kenta, the person he had been shouting at, ducked in the nick of time as Terriermon sailed through the space where his head had been. Kenta sighed in relief, but was then flattened when Renamon bounced of his hunched shoulders.

"Why me?" he whined.

Renamon flipped over and landed before Terriermon, grabbing him out of the air and holding him at arm's length. "Tag," she said calmly. "You're it."

She vanished from view, and reappeared a second later beside Rika. Terriermon whirled around and placed a hand on the nearest digimon. "Tag! Calumon's it!"

"Hey! I wasn't ready!" laughed Calumon as he took off after the fleeing Terriermon, who refused to stay on the ground as his legs still hurt. Pretty quickly the whole yard had turned into a laughing mess of running children and digimon, as almost all of them joined in the game, eager to laugh and relieve some of the tension that had been mounting inside them over the past few days.

Only Cyberdramon stood to one side, flying up onto his perch on the wall.

_There is a lot more to this then they're willing to tell,_ he thought. _And I am going to find out what it is._

Turning to face the house he had seen them come out of, he saw the policemen begin to haul and struggling yelling man, brown-haired and with a bruised cheek, out of the house and force him onto the hood of the car. Cyberdramon made a decision there and leapt off, not bothering to consult with Ryo who was at this point fleeing Jeri who had just been tagged by Lopmon.

* * *

Goro snarled in rage as he was flattened against the police car. How could this have happened? His plan was flawless! He had that foxy Digimon right where he wanted her, tied up, helpless, but she had escaped. That bunny had ruined everything. He should have just cut him loose and caged him when he was helpless but he had gotten too cocky. And now the bunny and the fox were together! He was going to find and punish that rabbit as soon as he got out of this mess.

"You're getting a sentence for life, buddy," said the policeman triumphantly. "No escape for you, just as you thought there was no escape for your animals." He indicated the jackal with his head, who was standing and watching with interest. None of them had wanted to put a leash on it, but it was going nowhere.

"I'm gonna get out of this," raged Goro, thrashing and almost throwing the policeman off. "And when I do, those two will be sorry they ever crossed me. That fox will be mine! I will have my way with her!"

Just then he felt an enormously strong hand, clawed, almost like talons, grab his shoulder and flip him casually to the ground. The policeman balked. Cyberdramon had dropped out of the sky and grabbed the captive.

Snarling, Cyberdramon held his razor-sharp claws a mere few centimetres from the man's face. "If you don't tell me exactly what happened during the three days you held those two prisoner and why you won't get to your life sentence. You will be buried in many different graveyards at the same time."

Goro gulped. Obviously the dragon was a friend of his two escaped victims and was not one to be taken lightly. His nerve had almost failed him – he only felt dominant when the other one was tied in ropes or chains and at his mercy, or if they were under his pay.

Goro nodded and began to babble the story of his capture, how he wanted to rape Renamon, how Terriermon had put up a spirited resistance and how he had walked in on the third day after feeding them to find them both free of their restraints and then woken up glued himself.

All the while, Cyberdramon listened with an expression of rage across his features, which was his usual expression anyway but it was more sinister than normal.

It was only the last bit that completely threw Cyberdramon out of the loop.

"...and then snogged each other for about a minute and then left to get the police..."

"WHAT!"

* * *

Two minutes later, Cyberdramon returned to his place on the wall. Nobody really noticed that he had gone. They were still playing tag. Kenta was now it and was failing miserably to catch anyone. Cyberdramon looked from Terriermon, who was sitting on the bridge laughing his head off at Kenta's feeble attempts, to Renamon, who was on the roof and chuckling impassively.

_Just snogging doesn't necessarily mean that the two are in love_, reasoned Cyberdramon to himself. _But I need to find out for myself. Nrgh. If I had my way that man would be a bloody corpse hanging from a tree in the park. But Ryo says that's scare the kids there. Stupid children. What's wrong with a bit of blood?_ With that he watched the game progress, looking for any signs of romantic activity between the two most unlikely choices to be a couple in the whole group. But there was nothing.

A few minutes later and the policemen came around. One stepped forward and the game instantly stopped, allowing Kenta to collapse, exhausted, to the ground.

"Is there anything more you would like us to do before we take him in?" he asked Renamon. All eyes turned to see an exhausted Goro, staring with eyes full of hatred at all the occupants in the garden.

Terriermon hurtled forwards and smashed headfirst into Goro, causing him to double up in pain. Renamon quickly followed and delivered a vicious sweeping kick to his head, flooring the hated man.

"Just take him away and make sure he doesn't go anywhere," she said.

"Oh, he won't," smiled the policeman. "You're dragon friend extracted the whole story from him. We've got so much evidence we won't even need a trial."

"The...whole story?" asked Renamon, looking up at Cyberdramon, as did many of the others. Cyberdramon stared blankly into Renamon's and then Terriermon's faces, back and forth between the two. It was difficult to tell because of his face-mask, but he was clearly looking meaningfully at them.

_Oh crap, he's onto us,_ wailed Terriermon in his head. _What do we do?_

Renamon didn't answer, but her stomach had clenched.

Cyberdramon remained stoically silent for a few seconds, then surprised everyone present by saying, "It is not my place to say what happened. You will find out only when they choose to tell you. I shall not even tell Ryo."

Enormous gratitude gushed forth from two digimon and overwhelming disappointment came from everyone else, although they tried to show it. _Who'd have thought,_ Terriermon said telepathically. _Grateful to Cyberdramon, for something other than him viciously repelling a digimon that's about to eat you._

_It is an odd thought,_ agreed Renamon. _But how much did that Goro really tell him?_

_You're thinking of accosting him and interrogating him aren't you?_

_In a way, but an approach like that would be suicide. I was thinking..._

_...A more subtle approach. You don't have to explain what's going on in your head to me anymore._

To everyone else there, it looked like Renamon nodded randomly for no reason at all, before grabbing Terriermon and leaping upwards to land beside the big, black dragon.

"Cyberdramon," said Renamon, in a voice so quiet that Cyberdramon could barely pick it up and nobody in the garden below, not even Lopmon, would be able to hear it. "When you say the whole story, what do you mean?"

"I mean the glue, the pole, the intended abuse and the spirited resistance," said Cyberdramon. He stared hard and noticed their faces, for a brief moment, showed relief, before becoming impassive once more.

"Oh, and the snogging," said Cyberdramon.

Both Terriermon and Renamon suddenly went stiff as boards, staring with apprehension at Cyberdramon. It seemed to be a week of "first time ever's," for this was the first time either of them had ever seen Cyberdramon with a slight quirk to his jaw. Almost a half grin. Quite the opposite of his usual – "It's-time-to-disembowl-someone" stare.

"It's not what it looks like," said Renamon, and in all fairness it probably wasn't, unless Cyberdramon's imagination was as spontaneous and wacky as Takato's.

"She was just thanking me...in...a very, er, obscure way," lied Terriermon. Terriermon was perhaps the best liar of all the digimon and the humans.

Cyberdramon's face had returned to a neutral, expressionless state. "I shall keep my word," he said after a few moments of staring.

"Thank you," said Renamon. "We'd never hear the end of it from Impmon."

"And I don't even want to think about what Rika or Suzie would think. Suzie would try and set up a wedding or something. Rika would try to beat me to death."

Cyberdramon said nothing. Evidently he had exhausted the minimal amount of normal conversation he might be willing to have. Renamon leapt do, taking Terriermon with her, doing a full back-flip and landing before Rika.

Before any questions could be asked about what they had said to Ryo's partner, Terriermon said loudly, "And there is something very important I wish to announce?"

"What is it?" asked Henry.

"I'M HUNGRY!" declared Terriermon to Planet Earth. "That twat wasn't exactly full of treats for us."

"One last thing," called the last policeman as they began to hustle Goro into the car. "What do we do with the jackal? We don't really have the heart to stuff it back in a cage."

"We would be sincerely grateful if you would allow it to stay with us," said Renamon. "We have become rather attached to it and it to us."

"But we could do with finding out whether it's a boy or a girl," continued Terriermon. "So that we can give it a name better than Jackie."

"Jackie?" asked Rika. "How original."

"Like Tamer, like Digimon," said Terriermon, sighing slightly.

The jackal came tearing down the path and leapt into Renamon's waiting arms. She scratched his ears gently with her claws. "Rika, unless we can find this jackal a better home, I must insist that it stays with us. I'll make him my responsibility if I have to."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of a dog in my house," said Rika's mother Rumiko.

"Dear," said Seiko. "Renamon is a fox and a fox is species of dog. One more won't make any difference. Rika's the most mature girl of her age I've ever seen, and as for Renamon, well, she goes without saying."

Reluctantly, Rumiko relented.

"I think we all better go home," said Henry as Terriermon jumped onto his shoulder. "We'll swing by HYPNOS and tell them that we've found them, so they can stop looking."

"You mean we found you," said Terriermon. Suddenly Renamon caught his eye and he focused he black orbs on her bright blue ones. Wordlessly, Renamon put the jackal on the ground, walked over and enveloped Terriermon in a furry hug, pulling him off Henry's shoulder.

"Thank you," said Renamon. "For everything."

"Momentai."

An immediate tensing came from all of the other digimon, except Cyberdramon, but Renamon merely chuckled and put Terriermon back on his perch. This was followed by blinks of confusion from the others. Renamon was more locked her eyes with Terriermon and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Terriermon looked away and said, "Well, Henry, let's go. Let's get a kick out of the Ultimate Level."

Henry laughed and swiped a blue card. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"

"**Terriermon matrix-digivolve to ......... Rapidmon!"**

"Wahoah!" cried the large cyborg-bunny-warrior. "I'd almost forgotten what this felt like! Sweet! You coming Suzie, Loppy?"

Two nods later and Rapidmon was soaring away with two humans pressed to his torso by his cannon arms and a bunny that looked similar to his Rookie-form on his head. Renamon watched him go, and then she felt it. She felt the strange feeling of almost being in two places at once. It was as if a little of her consciousness had been deposited in Rapidmon's brain. And as he flew off, Rapidmon felt a similar thing?

_So this is what she meant,_ he thought.

_That's right._

_I'm never gonna get used to this._

_It'll be much easier to cope soon, let me assure you._

_Oh, I don't doubt it._

Renamon then turned to Rika. "Terriermon was right. That man was a poor host. I too am very hungry and the jackal has not been fed properly in years."

"Well come on in, then," said Seiko warmly. "Today, you can ever whatever you want, the pair of you."

* * *

Rapidmon soared across Tokyo within two minutes, which by his standards was rather slow, and came to land before the twin towers that was HYPNOS. "Hello!" he called, as he deposited his passengers. "Anybody home?"

"Come on," said Henry as he lead the way inside, Rapidmon de-digivolving as he went. After going up the lift, they eventually found themselves in the big computer room. Yamaki turned to look at them. His mouth fell open when he spotted Terriermon on Henry's head, which he quickly vacated and glided over to him.

"Hey, Yamaki, dude," said Terriermon, landing on his shoulder and playfully punching the other one. "I hear you were a great help in the hunt for Renamon and me with that gallium stuff."

"But..." Yamaki spluttered. "Where have you been? We searched this entire city and found no trace of you."

"Can't blame you for not finding us," said Terriermon cheerfully. "After all, we were being held captive inside a regular house."

There was some awkward shuffling from two of the new recruits.

"I see," said Yamaki. "Well, I can safely say that that was unexpected."

"We just came to tell you that you can call off the search," said Henry. "Both Terriermon and Renamon are safe and the man, Goro, has been put away."

There was a slight shudder from Shibumi. Terriermon noticed and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Shibumi. "It's just that my first name is Gorou."

"Ah, Gorou sounds better than Goro anyway," said Terriermon. "forget about it, lots of people have the same name or similar names. I'm sure there are many others called Terriermon on this planet."

This brought a laugh to everyone, and once again, Terriermon found himself practically smothered by questions from the Monster Makers and the HYPNOS staff, but they received no more information from Terriermon than the other Tamers had. And all the while, part of Terriermon's mind was occupied by what Renamon had telepathically said to him, just before he had digivolved to Rapidmon. Just four words.

_Midnight. Guilmon's old hideout._

* * *

Sometime later, Terriermon had returned to the Wong apartment to joyous greeting from Henry's mother and sisters. And the spread! It was heaven – all of Terriermon's favourite foods had been laid out on the big table – mashed potato, gravy, trifle, chocolate cake, baked beans, iced buns and many more, which had instantly sparked his rhyme, which he had not said in a while and which he considered to be far more inventive than Guilmon's rhyme:-

"Buns and beans and sauerkraut, I'm gonna eat till I pass out!"

And that was exactly what he did. He leapt on the table and began to stuff his face, not bothering to use cutlery, but pulled great globs of food into his mouth with his ears. The Wong family made no attempt to stop him, but merely laughed at his gluttony. They could blame him, according to Terriermon he'd only been given half a meal over three days and half a cup of water. Now, he was guzzling and orange Fanta to frequent belching, which Suzie would mark out of ten (he got a nine and a half once).

Amusement was increased tenfold when Terriermon challenged Lopmon to an eating contest. After some persuasion, for Lopmon was not used to doing something like this, she agreed and the table soon had two bunnies stuffing themselves silly of watermelons, firing the seeds at poor Henry. But then Terriermon insisted that they stopped doing that. It reminded him to much of the dream he'd had where Beelzemon and Zhuqiaomon had gone on a rampage.

Eventually Lopmon was the winner of the contest, but only by default, as Terriermon had already eaten so much beforehand that he keeled over just before Lopmon was about to announce that she'd had enough. Terriermon groaned and rubbed his stomach, before falling asleep.

When he came to it was late evening and he was still lying on the table amongst the debris of his eating escapade. All the humans appeared to have left the room, to retire for an early night. "Oh, that's nice," muttered Terriermon. "They left me alone."

"Not quite." Terriermon looked round. Lopmon was sitting on the table not far away, idly stirring a bowl of soup, and a look of concern of her face.

_Uh-oh,_ thought Terriermon.

_What?_ Came Renamon's consciousness. It was unexpected and made Terriermon jump.

_Er, nothing, but I think Lopmon's about to interrogate me._

_Try not to tell her too much._

_I won't._

"Are you alright?" asked Lopmon.

"Huh?" asked Terriermon.

"You sort of spaced out there," replied the female bunny.

"Sorry, still a little full," said Terriermon. Lopmon smiled.

"It's good to have you back," she said. "Everyone agrees that this house wasn't the same without you around. We missed all your jokes and stuff."

"Well, I came back. Call me a boomerang."

"I missed you too," said Lopmon. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I specifically became Suzie's partner. Not that I have a problem with her. But I think part of the reason may have been you. You know, Henry's sister has a bunny, so she gets a bunny. That's why I consider you to be like a brother to me."

"You know, it's weird," said Terriermon. "But I always considered you to be like a sister to _me_. Even when we'd just me."

"You never know," shrugged Lopmon. "I was in service to Zhuqiaomon from the moment I hatched. I could have had my digi-egg taken away."

"We could go on a quest," laughed Terriermon. "The dramatic tale of two bunnies trying to find out how distantly they are related." Lopmon giggled slightly. "Or maybe we could ask Zhuqster if we see him again."

"Well, siblings are supposed to tell each other things," said Lopmon.

_Oh no,_ thought Terriermon. _She's using the concerned family member approach._

_But she's not a family member._

_She could be._

_Er..._

"Terriermon," said Lopmon, walking over towards the bunny, who was, despite all he had eaten, no fatter than before. "I know you better than any of the other digimon, except perhaps Guilmon, but it was obvious to everyone that something had happened between you and Renamon. The dramatic change from worst enemies to best friends was a bit of a giveaway."

"Would you prefer it if we still wanted to attack each other?" asked Terriermon.

"Of course not," said Lopmon. "But it must have been something awful to have those effects. Can you tell me what it was?"

Terriermon bit his lip and shook his head. "It isn't my place to say," said Terriermon. "I will tell you that what happened is deeply disturbing and certainly not for Suzie's ears. She must not know until she's about twice as old as she is now."

"Is is that bad?" asked Lopmon.

"Afraid so," said Terriermon. "If I hadn't been there, Renamon would have lost everything. I won't tell you why, but I will say that if we didn't either get away or do what that git wanted us to do, he was going to come after you, Suzie and Henry."

Lopmon's eyes widened. "What kind of man would do something like that?"

"A sicko," said Terriermon, careful not to use the word "pervert." That would have given too much away. "Fortunately there are not quite as many people like that as there are good and decent men like Henry's dad."

Lopmon shuddered. "If mankind followed the example of a man like that then even Azulongmon might want to wipe them out."

Terriermon nodded. _You have no idea._

_About what?_

_Not you. Lopmon._

_Oh._

"I also had the most horrific nightmare I've ever had," said Terriermon. There was nothing wrong with telling that story, he reasoned. Lopmon listened with growing horror as her brother-like friend outlined the evil Beelzemon and the deaths of Henry, Suzie, herself and the other digimon in horribly graphic detail, and then how Sakuyamon had saved them all, even though in the real world, that would not have been possible. The only digimon with the power to bring back the dead was Anubimon, and no-one had any idea how to contact him, not even the Sovereigns.

By the end of it, Terriermon was shuddering, and he found himself in the middle of a bunny hug. "Thanks Loppy," he said.

"You're welcome," said Lopmon withdrawing.

"That was one of the things that made us more like friends," said Terriermon. "She still hated me, but she comforted me all the same."

"I'm not surprised. A dream like that..." Lopmon trailed off. After a minute or so of heavy silence, Lopmon asked, "You wanna watch cartoons?"

"Oh, do I ever," said Terriermon with a new smile. "Come on, sis, momentai."

"Right behind you, bro," laughed Lopmon. Of course neither believed they really were brother and sister but they were as good as. They glided off the table and Terriermon's practiced ear flipped on the TV with the remote as they landed on the sofa, then turned over to cartoon network. It just so happened that the Digimon cartoon was on. Terriermon and Lopmon watched as Imperialdramon, Shakkoumon and Silphymon battered at a no worse for wear Daemon.

"You reckon we'll ever have to fight something like that?" asked Lopmon.

"Hey come on," said Terriermon. "We could take him. He can't be any worse than the D-Reaper and they've only got two Ultimates."

"Yeah," said Lopmon. "You reckon I'll ever reach the mega level?"

"Sure you will. Suzie's gotten much better as a Tamer, right?"

"Yes, she has."

They continued to watch as the episode finished and then it flipped over to a new show that neither of them had seen before called Dinosaur King. They watched that too with a feeling that it was a slight copy of Digimon, but nevertheless it was a good episode about a Carnotaurus conquering his fear of water.

Eventually, Lopmon fell asleep, nestled into the back-cushion of the sofa. But Terriermon couldn't, wouldn't, sleep. A tingling feeling was beginning to grow in his groin. He supposed this was the start of the urge that Renamon had spoken of – gentle at first but it would eventually intensify. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It read about ten thirty. He settled himself down to watch another hour of cartoons.

At eleven twenty-five, he crept off the sofa and picked up a scrap piece of paper from the dashboard in the kitchen. After locating a pen he wrote:- "Can't sleep. Gone to stretch my ears. Momentai, I'll be back soon. Terriermon." Then he pressed it against the wall and held it in place with a mug, so anyone could clearly see it. Then he, quietly and with difficulty, opened the kitchen window above his note and glided out into the night.

About a minute later, a strong gust of wind woke Lopmon up from her position on the couch. She was a little bewildered when she saw she was alone but the TV was still on. Then she saw the open window and the note, and so she got up and read it. She then looked out into the night.

"There's something big you're not telling me," she muttered. "I just know it."

* * *

Terriermon landed on the roof of Guilmon's hut. He listened carefully, making sure that no-one had followed him here, but he heard nothing. With that, he dropped down into the door and looked in. Guilmon had vacated the place as he was now allowed to sleep in Takato's house, and Calumon was nowhere to be seen as he stayed with Jeri now.

But Renamon was standing at the back, a strange look in her eye.

"Whenever you're ready," she said.

Terriermon gulped and with a feeling of both excitement and apprehension, he walked towards her.

* * *

Ta-da! Phew, took me a while to write that one. You could call the whole Terriermon and Lopmon scene a plot device, as I really like Lopmon and didn't want her to feel jealous because Terriermon's with another. Being like siblings seemed like the best excuse, though I personally like that pairing.

I'm still trying to think of a story to keep this thing going. At the moment, all I can think about is some kind of crossover. If I did I'd probably go Star Wars or Lord of the Rings – I mean a full scale war with big monsters or machines or something to challenge the Digimon. I wouldn't want to make life too easy for them.

I hope to get another update up by next Thursday, but the essay may take up most of my time. See you then.

* * *

Next time...

Lopmon is slightly suspicious of what's going on and Cyberdramon is even more so. Will Renamon and Terriermon be able to conceal their secret for long.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 9:- Aftermath**


	9. Aftermath

Wow, a new reviewer. Thanks very much Starowner, and to all those regular reviewers who liked my reunion chapter. It was great to write. For those of you who replied to my plea for help in ideas, thanks again. I have now decided what I am going to do. I think that this story is going to remain strictly digimon. Thanks to BornFromDarkness for suggesting GranDracmon. That may be the one I use. There will be a crossover but not in this story. I have decided that when I finish this story I will write a sequel which is a crossover – I'm leaning towards Star Wars: Clone Wars, and the third star wars film.

For those of you who didn't get the end of the last chapter... guess what happened in that hideout. It's really seen it all in there hasn't it?

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 9:- Aftermath**

* * *

Lopmon was watching the sleeping Terriermon with a beady and suspicious eye. He had flown in at about two o'clock in the morning the previous night, looking absolutely exhausted. Too exhausted to just have been out "stretching his ears" as he had put it. But when she had asked what he had been doing, all he had said was, "Momentai," before falling face-first into a cushion and dropping to sleep faster than it would take a stone to hit the ground if dropped from a height of three feet.

Henry, waking up bright and early, as usual, was the first to walk groggily into the kitchen in search of some cereal. He raised a hand and waved slightly at Lopmon. "Morning," he said.

"Good morning, Henry," said Lopmon.

Henry grinned slightly when he spotted Terriermon on the sofa. "Typical Terriermon. He sleeps like a computer. You can only wake him up if you push the right buttons."

Lopmon chuckled, glancing at her brother-like friend. There was no sense in worrying Henry about what had happened. So far as she could see it was nothing serious and Henry had had enough on his plate what with his partner's disappearance over the last few days.

But still, it didn't mean that _she_ couldn't worry.

One by one, the Wong family began to make their way into the kitchen to eat. Suzie was last, as usual. The common breakfast banter began, nobody saying anything of great significance, and they all spoke in low voices so as to let Terriermon rest. After all, they reasoned, it must have been a traumatic experience to be captured.

It had been, but that wasn't why Terriermon was so tired.

Terriermon eventually awoke. As often happened when he awoke, he started upwards and yelled something totally and inexplicably random. This time it was "Ack! Sabretooth!"

Everyone laughed. "What?" demanded Terriermon. "So what, I dream about X-men. Bite me."

"Well, since you ask so nicely..." Lopmon advanced with an evil grin on her face.

"Waaagh!" Terriermon leapt from his place on the sofa. Lopmon bounced after him, the two using their ears to sail around the room from corner to corner, springing off the walls with their feet. However, this game was rather short-lived as Terriermon was still almost out of energy. He dropped like a piano into Jaarin's cereal, causing a shower of milk and Cheerios.

"Ugh," groaned Terriermon. "Have I been drugged?"

"You just ate too much last night," reasoned Henry, wiping a few stray Cheerios out of his hair before returning to his Frosties. "Perhaps you should be a bit less, er, bonkers at the table."

"Never!" yelled Terriermon grinning. "I'll be bonkers at the table and away from it."

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

Many eyes rolled. Terriermon clambered out of Jaarin's bowl and apologised, then went to lie down in the middle of the table. _Holy crap, I did it last night. With Renamon. If someone had ever told me that that would happen..._

_...You would have laughed your head off and told them they were delusional._

"GAH!" Terriermon leapt up, to cries of alarm from the others. "STOP DOING THAT!" Once he realised he had exclaimed it out loud, and thus Renamon had not heard him, and the Wongs were looking at him with confused expressions.

_Took me by surprise there,_ he informed Renamon. _But I'll get used to it._

_So, did you enjoy yourself last night?_ There was definitely a purr in Renamon's tone.

_Well the cartoons were a bit juvenile but..._

_You know what I mean._

_Yes I do. I was just teasing. As for that... hell yeah. That is one thing the internet cannot prepare you for. We should do it again sometime._

_Oh we will,_ chuckled Renamon. _My mate._

_Boy, does that feel weird. When do we plan on telling Henry and Rika?_

_Not just yet. I think that we should let things settle back down to normal before we blow them away with this sort of revelation._

A thought occurred to Terriermon._ Uh, I'm not going to be a dad soon am I?_

_No._ Terriermon sighed in relief. _Yet another feature given to Renamon was that we can control when we give birth. It's one of the reasons why there aren't that many of us around. We only form digi-eggs when we choose to._

_That is a relief. Fatherhood would not suit me just yet._

_I'm not so sure about that. Look at the way you looked after me, the digimon who would least want it, except perhaps Cyberdramon._

_True._

"Terriermon?"

_Oop. Call for the other side. Talk to you soon._ "Yes?"

It was Henry who was speaking. "We always said that if we found a way to get our digimon back, we would throw a party of some kind. But your disappearance drove the thought from our minds. Now you're back, we can always go ahead with it."

"A party? I love parties."

"I know you do Suzie," said Henry.

"So do I?" cheered Terriermon. "Hey, Loppy, you've never been to a human party before have you?"

"I've never been to a party, period," said Lopmon. "Zhuqiaomon was a real pooper."

Terriermon yelled with laughter and began to roll across the table, clutching his chest. He somehow managed to steal a piece of toast from Janyuu's plate at the same time.

"I'll take that as a "yes, you are good with it," then," said Henry.

"Well, duh," said Terriermon, sidling up to Henry with Janyuu's toast in one ear. "Who knows, Rika might be there."

Terriermon was quite surprised to see a flush creep into Henry's cheeks. He had only wanted to joke around – but Jeri had her sights on Takato and vice versa although they were both a bit dim to do things for themselves, and the only other girl besides Suzie was Ai and that would not be right at all. So he had said Rika. But it appeared he had hit the nail on the head.

"Momentai, Henry," he raised one eyebrow. "I was just kidding."

Henry nodded mutely.

_Hey, Rena._

_Yes?_

_I just joked at Henry about Rika and he blushed. You reckon you could imply something's going on between the two to Rika and observe her reaction._

_Interesting. I'll check. What was it about?_

_I just said Rika would be at this party thing they're planning?_

_Party? What party?_

_I'm sure Rika will tell you. Terriermon, out._

_You are not on a walkie-talkie._

_Momentai._

Renamon thought a noise that was cross between a sigh of exasperation and a chuckle, as Terriermon used the word she used to hate.

"So what are we going to do today?" asked Terriermon.

"We're gonna build a rollercoaster!" yelled Suzie.

"What?"

"I'll tell you in a minute," said Henry. (A/N: That's a Phineas and Ferb gag people)

"Well, we could head to the park," said Terriermon. "It'd be like old times."

Henry nodded.

* * *

Renamon had slightly more energy than Terriermon that morning, but not much. The...activity that they had done had really taken a lot out of both of them strength-wise. After all, neither of them had done it before.

She had woken up that morning later than usual from her rare sleeps. She had been left alone by the Nonakas, who were of similar opinions to the Wongs. When she did wake up she discovered she had done it sitting down. That was odd as well. Usually she remained upright, leaning against the wall. She walked into the kitchen to find Rika and her mother and grandmother enjoying a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs.

"Good morning, Renamon," said Rumiko brightly. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," said Renamon. "May I ask if I could have some breakfast?"

"Oh, you don't have to ask, dear," said Seiko, busying herself with the frying pan. "You're almost like a family member yourself. Everything we have, you have too."

"That is very kind of you," Renamon nodded. She was moved slightly by Seiko's kind words, but at the same time she was slightly amused. _If I'm almost a member of the family, how will they react when I tell them they're almost related to Terriermon?_

But Terriermon, who was still asleep, and being watched by Lopmon at this point, didn't hear her.

Renamon stood patiently as Seiko prepared her breakfast. Unlike Terriermon, she had not stuffed herself silly the previous day, but had still eaten a lot more than usual. Now, she was back on her usual supply of food.

"It's really good to have you back, Renamon," said Rika. "It's been really boring around here without you. My life was just so...normal. Boring school, talking with friends, even a little shopping," she sighed, remembering that disastrous trip. "But no action. No digimon. Fortunately I convinced my mum to let me transfer to the school the other's are in."

"We ourselves did not enjoy our stay. The Digital World is a much harsher place than it used to be," Renamon informed her. "I doubt any of us would have survived long there if it happened been for Impmon. He could still digivolve to Mega. And MarineAngemon came in useful too."

"There's a weird thought," Rika smiled.

"Here you are," trilled Seiko, handing her the plate.

"You have my thanks," intoned Renamon as she took it in her paws. Then she stopped and seemed to lose interest in everything but a patch of wall.

"Renamon?" asked Rika.

Unbeknownst to Rika, her digimon partner was in the middle of an internal dialogue with her mate, who had just woken up. After a minute or so, she seemed to snap back to reality.

"My apologies," she said.

"What were you thinking about?" asked Rika.

"Only that Goro," lied Renamon. "I was wondering whether he had been given a nice damp cell yet."

"I hope so," snarled Rika. "Are you going to tell me what he did?"

"Soon," said Renamon, "but I'd rather everything settled back to normal for a few days before Terriermon and I reveal all."

"Okay," Rika acknowledged. "But I just worry about you."

"I know," smiled Renamon gently, then turned and walked away to eat her cooling breakfast in the corner. She may now be mated, but she was still not allowed to eat with anyone else for a while. She still had hormones rushing through her and she had to wait until their relationship settled down a little before she could eat with anyone besides Terriermon.

Rika looked slightly put out, but had long since learned not to question Renamon's eating habits. Renamon was not going to tell her anything any time soon.

About half way through her meal, another being entered the kitchen, Jackie the jackal. It walked right up to Renamon and sat by her feet, looking up at her with appealing eyes. She chuckled. "You're just like a dog," she said, ruffling the jackal's ears and then feeding it a piece of her bacon.

"By the way," said Rumiko. "It's a girl."

Renamon looked up. "How can you tell?"

"She sits down to pee," giggled Rumiko.

"Ah," said Renamon, nodding. "In that case, next time I see Terriermon, I'll let him know and we can rename her." At the bemused looks, she continued. "This jackal helped us. Not of its own accord, but still, it did. You could say Terriermon and I adopted him."

"What are you? Husband and wife?" Rika laughed. Renamon blinked.

"Now we aren't," she said. This wasn't a lie. They were not married, they were mated. That was the way of digimon. Only humans, and some human-like digimon, went by marriage. Renamon saw it as a poor way of binding two lives. It allowed people to leave the other. Mating was life-long so there was no chance of splitting up. That was why few digimon ever did mate. They'd have to be sure they made the correct decision first.

"I was just joking, Renamon," Rika laughed. Renamon looked confused. For a moment there she had been sure that Rika had been on to them. But obviously not.

Just then she got Terriermon's message about the blushing Henry. Fortunately nobody noticed her stare into space this time. Renamon paused to consider how best to approach the subject, and decided honesty might be the best policy.

"Rika?"

"Yes."

"Forgive me for asking," Renamon said. "But when I vaulted over the wall to hug you yesterday I couldn't help but notice that you were already hugging someone else. Is there something going on between you and Henry?"

"NO!" yelled Rika, a little too forcefully in Renamon's opinion. "No, there isn't. I was just thanking him for being so comforting when I thought you were gone."

"Remind me to thank him," said Renamon. "But still, you shouldn't be surprised if I'm a little suspicious. Hugging is not your usual way of saying thank you."

"You can talk," muttered Rika, now very red in the face. "You hugged the bunny."

"If you knew what had happened in that house, or had gone through it yourself, you would have hugged the bunny," replied Renamon coolly, not letting anything slip.

"Hey! Fox-face! You in?"

"Three guesses as to who that would be," said Rika, smirking. Renamon put down her plate and walked to the door. Impmon was standing on the wall.

"Yes, Impmon?" she said. "What is it?"

"Two things actually," said Impmon. "One is, I didn't really get a chance last night to say it's good to see you're alright. Two is, I've been sent by Ai and Mako to say the same thing, and they want to know if they can come to the party."

Renamon had already heard of the party, but she must play ignorant, or the Nonakas would wonder where she had found out. "Party? What party?" She turned to Rika.

"Oh, er, well... it was Takato's idea. It usually is, isn't it? He suggested a big party if we ever found our partners again."

"I see," said Renamon. "And you wish to go?"

"Not really," said Rika. "I'm not a party person, but I suppose Gogglehead would be offended if I didn't?"

"I'm sure Henry will be there," smirked Renamon. Now Rika's face really went red.

"It isn't like that," she said through gritted teeth.

"Sure, it's not," said Impmon sarcastically, rolling his green eyes. Renamon turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"He means nothing," said Rika quickly.

"Oh, come on, we all saw the signs, even Pineapple-head noticed the growing embarrassment between the two of you, and he's not exactly the most observant digimon is he?"

"He has a point," said Renamon.

Rika just said, "Humph," and folded her arms, looking away.

"Tell them they can come," said Renamon. "We will be there."

"Good to know," said Impmon. "Right, now I gotta go find Calumon." He jumped out of sight.

"Well, I suppose if we must," sighed Rika.

"I have never been to a party," mused Renamon. She had seen them of course, and wondered why people did the things they did. She didn't see much satisfaction in anything except perhaps pinning a tail on a donkey. "Where is it going to be and when?"

"Well there are a lot of us, so it's going to be..."

* * *

"... at Guilmon's old hideout," said Henry.

"Ah," said Terriermon. "Cool. Wonders seem to happen at that place."

* * *

"I see," said Renamon. "Well, this should be an interesting experience."

* * *

Everything was being ludicrously rushed. The Matsukis were being more rushed off their feet than normal to bring enough bread. The shops were being swamped with children and their small monster friends, or their large monster friends. Ryo had to ban Cyberdramon from entering any shop that contained food of any sort. Takato tried to the same, but had to physically keep Guilmon away.

The children of the park wondered what was going on. A large robot had appeared there carrying large tables, followed by a boy desperately trying to get him to put it down without breaking it. One by one, other digimon were appearing with their human friends and adding things to it, one of them rather sulkily, some of the others extremely enthusiastically.

Rika and Renamon were walking down the path towards the hide-out when they both heard a loud, "Hey Renamon! Hey Rika! How's it hanging?"

"I think I should be asking the same question of you," said Renamon, looking up at Terriermon, who was hanging by one ear by the branch of the nearest tree. So was Lopmon.

"Is Suzie anywhere near here?" asked Lopmon.

"I don't think so," Renamon glanced around.

"Good," said Terriermon. "We're trying to distract her with a game of hide-and-seek, in order to make sure this party thing doesn't wind up being a hundred percent pink."

"If Suzie had her way, we would all be wearing dresses, no matter what age or gender," explained Lopmon. "Although..." she whispered something to Terriermon and the two of them burst into laughter.

"What?" asked Rika.

"She said, "I'd like to be there if someone tried to put a dress on Cyberdramon," replied Terriermon. This brought a laugh to all four of them.

"What is the actual point of a dress?" asked Renamon. "It seems very impractical to me."

"Well it would be if you were a warrior," said Rika. "And to be honest, I am in complete agreement. They're just stupid pieces of clothing that are supposed to make you look pretty, but if you go out it makes you a target for perverts and means you can't run away."

Lopmon couldn't help but notice that Renamon and Terriermon shared a quick glance after that sentence, but it was so brief she wondered if she'd imagined it. Then Renamon looked back up at Terriermon and said, "By the way, Jackie the jackal is actually a girl."

"She sits down to pee, doesn't she?"

Renamon nodded.

"In that case, I think we should call her Isis," grinned Terriermon.

"Was that an on-the-spot decision or did you look it up?"

"I looked it up on a website called Behind the Name, this morning. It was the one that sounded best. There was another one that was Bastet. I don't know about you but that is not a good name in my opinion."

"I agree with you on that one."

"Terriermon! Lopmon! Are you there!"

"Awp! Hide!" hissed Terriermon, and he and Lopmon disappeared into the foliage. Suzie rounded the corner, Henry behind her. Suzie was intensely scanning the bushes for any sign of her two rabbit friends. Henry looked like he was just keeping an eye on her. Suzie then spotted Rika and Renamon and waved cheerfully.

"Have you guys seen Terriermon or Lopmon? We're playing hide-and-seek and I can't find them."

"I'm sure they're around," smiled Rika lightly, while Renamon nodded. She was watching Henry, who seemed to hang back slightly as Suzie approached Rika.

_There is definitely a connection between them,_ she mused.

_So, I take it your little fact-finding thing came out positive,_ came Terriermon's voice.

_Yes, she turned as red as a beet, not helped the needling of Impmon who had just showed up at the time._

_Impmon is a useful being when it comes to annoying someone._

"The party's almost finished being prepared," said Henry. "Takato just showed up with what looks like all the bread in the bakery."

"It'll all be gone within half an hour before the party starts if Guilmon goes anywhere near it," smiled Renamon. Henry snickered.

At that point, with an almighty crash, Cyberdramon landed behind them, Ryo clinging to his strong wings. Ryo almost fell off with relief. "That is the last time I take Cyberdramon anywhere near the door of a butcher's shop," he shivered. "The entire shop is virtually bare of sausages."

Cyberdramon snorted and said nothing.

"You guys going," said Ryo. "The party should be starting within an hour."

"Good thing you showed up really," said Henry. "There are a myriad of small children gathering beside the hideout and asking if they can be invited or talk to the digimon. Perhaps Cyberdramon would be useful in keeping them away."

"No mauling!" yelled Ryo as Cyberdramon instantly started down the path towards the hideout. Scaring people was almost as fun as destroying them in his opinion. Ryo took off in pursuit.

"I have to see this," said Rika, starting down the path. "You guys coming?"

"We still have to find Terriermon and Lopmon," said Suzie, pouting slightly.

"They're up that tree," Renamon pointed over her shoulder.

"Ack! Traitor!" came a voice that was unmistakably Terriermon's. Renamon chuckled as she followed Rika.

* * *

"Good sirs," Guardromon was saying to the crowd of children and the parents who were apologetically trying to get their children to move away. "This party is supposed to be an event merely for digimon, their tamers and the families of their tamers. We don't have enough to hold all of you."

"What about all that bread?" one of the children pointed at the mountain that Takato and Jeri had piled onto one of the tables.

"That is for Guilmon," said Guardromon. "He has a huge appetite."

"Alright, people, you heard that robot," said Kazu exasperatedly. "You can't come in here."

"Perhaps a more subtle approach would have been better Kazu," said Guardromon to the wails of the kids.

"RAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"

The kid's froze in terror at the chilling roar. Cyberdramon exploded from the foliage and tackled Guardromon, the two rolling over and over.

"WHAT THE..." cried Kazu.

"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Ryo emerged in a very fake voice that often occurred in kid's TV shows. "WE'LL ALL BE EATEN ALIVE FOR SURE!" He winked quickly at Kazu as he sprinted past.

"Oh," Kazu caught on. "IT'S A VICIOUS MONSTER THAT WILL TEAR US UP! I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN HANDLE IT! RUN, KIDS! GET AWAY!"

The kid's screamed and scattered as Cyberdramon leapt at them, landing just short of the back-most child. He roared in delight. Guilmon came in from the side and charged him, followed by Impmon. They and Guardromon began to stage a fake, but surprisingly realistic looking fight as the kids fled. Guilmon and Impmon launched barrages of fireballs and Guardromon grappled with the flailing Cyberdramon from behind.

Once all the children had vanished, Ryo called out the green whip from his D-Arc and latched it around Cyberdramon's arm. Cyberdramon took this as a cue to stop and he did so with difficulty, for although these were his comrades, he had been immensely enjoying himself. There was a smattering of applause from the other Tamers.

"Guardromon," said Renamon, who had been watching from the sides. "Make some loud explosions. That should convince the kids that the fight is still going."

"Right you are, milady. GUARDIAN BARRAGE!" The whistling rockets slammed into a nearby hillock and blew it up.

"Now that was worth it," laughed Terriermon from his perch on Henry's head. "But why didn't you let me join in?"

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

"Anyhoo," came Takato's voice. "Let's..."

But whatever he was saying was lost on two of the digimon, one of them being his own partner. Guilmon was sniffing the air. There was a strange scent coming from two of his best friends. Renamon and Terriermon both had a peculiar faint scent about them. But he dismissed it. He had smelt whatever it was before in the park at times, and he could smell waves of it coming from his old hideout itself.

Cyberdramon, on the other hand, who could also smell it, did not dismiss it. He looked suspiciously at the two and then followed the scent up to Guilmon's hideout. He poked a snout in. The scent in here was almost overpowering and strangely...alluring. Cyberdramon blinked under the mask. Alluring? To him? Even he was startled by this.

He shook his head and put it to one side for now, but he assured himself he was going to pursue this matter later. Something was still happening between Renamon and Terriermon. He was sure of it. But what?

* * *

"CANNONBALL!"

Guilmon leapt tail-first into the mountain of bread. "Hey, that looks like fun," cried Calumon and jumped after him. Guilmon began to shovel food into his mouth like he was about to go through a five year famine and Calumon began to munch on the iced buns without bothering to lift them off the table. The Tamers and most of the digimon laughed at their antics.

"Hey, leave stuff for me Cream Puff," yelled Impmon and joined them, encouraging Ai and Mako to come and eat too. Ai and Mako seemed slightly more relaxed in an atmosphere like this. It was strictly a fun time. No major stuff.

"Party time! Yeah!" whooped Terriermon, bouncing from tree to tree with an almost limitless energy which went against his exhausted state during the morning. "Okay, Twenty questions."

"What that?" asked MarineAngemon.

"It's where I think of something and you have to guess what it is within twenty questions about it."

"Hey," complained Kazu. "Why do you get to go first..."

"Shotgun, no reloads," grinned Terriermon. Many humans blinked. That rule had been introduced when they had been absent. How had he learned it that fast?

"Okay, who's going to ask the first question?" asked Terriermon.

"Is it earwax?" asked Renamon, smiling innocently.

"Damn," muttered Terriermon, to tumultuous laughter and slight confusion. "Er... right, new thing..."

"Is it a cowpat?"

"Stop it!" cried Terriermon. Now everyone was extremely confused. How the hell was Renamon guessing this stuff?

"Option three," said Terriermon evilly. Renamon flushed under her fur and remained silent. Terriermon had just thought of a certain two things which had nearly suffocated him the day before yesterday. Terriermon's thoughts switched to a penguin and she didn't spoil it this time. Suzie started the questions with "Is it pink?"

"Nope."

In the end, bizarrely, Guilmon got the answer on question eighteen and the party continued. It went slowly, in Renamon's opinion. Many things seemed to be happening – either eating something at the table, talking quietly, or else involved in some loud party game that caused hilarity. Her mate was always in the thick of these activities and with some difficulty, he even manage to get her to blow into a party blower. Somehow the loud noise made everyone laugh. Terriermon continued to press other things into her paws, including rattles and a balloon full of helium.

Needless to say, hearing Renamon speaking in a high-pitched voice was stupidly funny. Terriermon's voice became so high it was almost impossible to hear it.

But Terriermon didn't try and encourage her to play "Pin the Tail On The Donkey" and for that, she was grateful. She hoped to never have another blindfold put over her eyes.

In the end, Renamon's hunger increased slightly and she took a few pieces of bread that Guilmon had not yet managed to eat, plus a few carrots and other salad matter and even a Party Ring or two. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Terriermon eagerly encouraging a confused Guardromon to play quoits. She shut her eyes for a second and used her mind to pulse a feeling of calmness at him. She opened her eyes and saw him blink and calm, before looking in her direction. She winked, then went to sit on top of Guilmon's old hideout in order to eat what was on her plate.

Terriermon looked up at her. She was still eating by herself. Even though she was now mated, she still had to eat on her own?

Well, unless he went up there.

He suddenly realised that he too was hungry, although he hadn't really noticed due to all the fun. He left the confused robot in the hands of Kazu and Kenta, and walked over to the table, beginning to pile food onto it, mostly Battenberg cake and chocolate, before wandering up and saying, in a surprisingly accurate French accent, "Dinner ees served."

Renamon looked up from the carrot she was chewing and almost beamed as Terriermon sat beside her, placing the plate he had been holding between them and, like her, dangling his legs over the edge, although they were considerable further from the ground than hers was.

"Party rings?" asked Terriermon, glancing at Renamon's rather sparsely populated plate. "You like them?"

"Yes," nodded Renamon, hooking one in her claw and placing it into her mouth, relishing not only the taste, but once again feeling fantastic at the thought of eating in the company of another. Soon she'd be able to eat with anyone, but Terriermon would remain her one and only mate.

"Well," said Terriermon, peeling a Battenberg of the marzipan and eating one of the pink squares. "How're you holding up? Rika been pressing you for information?"

"Thankfully no," said Renamon, "although she made quite an amusing joke today."

"Rika? Joke? And I thought you making a joke sounded weird."

Renamon snorted. "It would only be funny to you and me," and she told him of the whole husband and wife thing. Terriermon lasted a whole second of biting his tongue before he burst into laughter and fell backwards almost choking on the yellow square of cake he had just eaten. Renamon looked fondly at him.

But his laughter caught Henry's attention and he looked up from his talk with little Ai and Mako, and stared at him. "Something's wrong with that picture," he said. "Why's Renamon eating with Terriermon? She's never done that before."

He then watched with slight astonishment as the two picked up a second slice of Battenberg, and each took one yellow and one pink square and ate them, sucking their fingers to get at the sticky stuff that held them together. Then Renamon began to flick chunks of the marzipan in the air and catch it in her own mouth. Terriermon said something to her and took to the ear, and Renamon began to hurl bits of food at him, as he wove to catch them in his own mouth.

"Er, Rika," he said nervously. "What's Renamon doing?"

Rika turned and gawped at the sight in front of her. Terriermon, having successfully caught and eaten a grape, giggled insanely before gliding down into Renamon's awaiting arms. She placed him down beside her and they began to... eat of the same plate? But... Renamon had refused to eat next to her that very morning. "What the hell?" she asked.

Clearly she had no explanation.

Rika frowned. What was so special about Terriermon that made it so Renamon would eat with him? Why not her? Surely the bond between them was stronger than the bond between Renamon and Terriermon.

What Rika didn't know was that the bond between Renamon and Terriermon was just as strong as the digimon-Tamer bond. If Renamon had been required to save either one, she would never have been able to decide.

But Rika was not privy to this information.

Still frowning, Rika deliberately walked over to the table and gathered a plate of her own and pile food onto that, then proceeded towards the climb that led to the top of the hideout. Renamon saw her coming.

_Uh-oh,_ she thought. _Rika._

Terriermon looked and swore in his mind. _Aargh, that was careless of me._

_You aren't to blame,_ thought Renamon before disappearing by putting up her perception filter. Rika faltered, looking surprised and not a little hurt.

"Rika," said Renamon, reappearing beside her. "I'm sorry but you can't. Not yet. There will come a time where we will be able to eat at the same table, but now is not that time."

"I just don't understand you, Renamon," muttered Rika. "What's so special about him?"

"That too will become clear soon, but not right now. Someday..." she trailed off, with such a genuine look of anxiousness and guilt that Rika sighed and apologised.

"Sorry Renamon," she said, then looked at Terriermon. The bunny was shifting nervously from foot to foot, trying to hide the last piece of Battenberg behind his back, as if it was evidence that could be used against him. Rika actually half-smiled reassuringly at him, before going down to the others, none of whom except two, had noticed this little exchange.

One of them had been, of course, Henry.

The other had been Cyberdramon, who had done no partying whatsoever, except to tear the piñata apart while Kenta had the blindfold on, leaving him swinging blindly at something which was no longer there, while the others feasted on the chocolate that had been inside. Cyberdramon watched as Renamon went up the hill. Terriermon offered her a Twirl from the plate, and she politely took hit up and bit into it. He heard Terriermon quip, "You're gonna need a diet soon."

Then he watched Renamon casually sweep him onto his back with her tail and place one foot gently on his belly. "You're one to talk, Tubby."

"Tubby?" Terriermon looked offended. "I have a very high metabolic rate, I'll never be fat. But if I do get fat, I'll just become Rapidmon."

Neither of them noticed the fact Cyberdramon was watching. From a distance it was almost impossible to tell where the dragon was looking as his eyes were not visible. Cyberdramon turned round and headed towards Lopmon.

_Listen, Terriermon,_ thought Renamon. _We need to make this relationship of ours a little more stable. I have already upset Rika and would not like to do so for longer than necessary._

_Okay, and the answer to that problem is...?_

_You think you're up for another round tonight?_

_..._

_Well?_

_Er, how many nights would we have to do it?_

_Three more._

_Three!? Blimey. Why three?_

_Because the more times we have intercourse the stronger our bond becomes. If I was to eat in the company of another right now, although you would still be my mate, eventually I would have two. After three more, my bond with you will overrule it and I'll be able to enjoy another's company without needing to take another mate to do so. So?_

_..._

_..._

_Momentai. I'm up for it. Last night was the best night of my life!_

_I'd be very disappointed in my lack of skill if it had not been. Let's see if I can top last night tonight._

_I like your attitude. It's a real turn-on._

_Careful,_ she smiled, but she didn't mind really. Not anymore. Not from him, anyway.

* * *

"Oog! Clowns!" Terriermon awoke with the usual exclamation. As predicted he awoke with the usual exclamation. Beside him, Henry snorted and his eyes cracked open.

"Ungh, what's up Terriermon?"

"Bad dream," he lied.

"Go back to sleep."

"I can't go to sleep. Clowns will eat me," Terriermon replied. Henry grunted tiredly and fell asleep again. Terriermon checked the door. There was no sign of Lopmon. Good. She wasn't keeping an eye on him. Creeping across the desk, he opened the window and glided out into the night, like an owl, as silently as possible.

However, behind him, unnoticed by the airborne rabbit, a shape detached itself from the building and set off in pursuit. A small, purple dragon. Going on the information he had received from Lopmon, he followed Terriermon into the park.

Something was going on with Terriermon and Renamon, and Terriermon was far easier to follow than the fox. Cyberdramon, de-digivolved into Monodramon, was playing detective.

* * *

Uh-oh, plain and simple. I now have two huge essays mounting on me, but I aim to do at least one chapter a week. Next week will be rock solid for me. I have a Drama essay in for Monday, an English essay in for Tuesday, a Biology test on photosynthesis on Wednesday, my EPQ presentation on Thursday, and another Biology test on Friday, so I have one hell of a weekend to get through.

* * *

Next time...

Guess.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 10:- One by one**


	10. One by One

Lysistrata – done and dusted.

A lot of you may be wondering what's going to happen next, so I am not going to talk about it any longer and get on with writing this chapter. There are parts of this chapter that steer close to M, but don't quite reach it.

* * *

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 10:- One By One**

* * *

Monodramon watched carefully, peering around a tree-trunk as he saw Terriermon descend slowly and land silently on top of Guilmon's hideout. The bunny looked over his shoulder several times and Monodramon withdrew his head slightly. His dark purple skin allowed him to blend into the night better than, say, Calumon. But then again, Calumon was not very good at hiding.

Terriermon hopped down to the door and walked purposefully inside the old cupboard.

Monodramon waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually it became clear after about ten minutes or so, that Renamon was probably already inside. Either she had got there first, or she had come with her perception filter up. That was if she was here at all. Monodramon was still as confused as ever as to what might be going on.

Slipping out from behind the tree, the little dragon moved slowly forwards on tip-claw, so as not to alert either of the two, who both had excellent hearing, to his presence. He slunk forward like a bipedal cat, until he was standing right next the door.

He listened.

_What the hell?_ He murmured in his head. The sounds that were coming from the hideout where strange...moaning noises? It sounded like someone in there was in pain, and she could distinctly hear it was Renamon and there was the occasional grunt or small yelp from Terriermon.

Monodramon peered around the door.

Then he wished he hadn't. What he saw would be burned on the inside of mind for the rest of his life.

"HOLY F**K!" yelled Monodramon, stumbling backwards and tripping, backward rolling down the stairs, still swearing loudly. "OH S**T! OH S**T S**T F**K! MY EYES! MY EYES! SORRY! OH GOD SORRY! AAARGGH! OH! OH! OH! NO! S**T! IT BURNS!"

He picked himself up and attempted to leap into a bush and hopefully bury his head and forget what he just saw, but he was suddenly grabbed around the shoulders in one big paw and lifted into the air, until he was eye-level with an extremely angry Renamon.

"MONODRAMON!" she yelled. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING SNEAKING AROUND LIKE THAT!"

"YOU AND HIM!" shouted Monodramon, panicked. "HOLY ****!" He began bashing the side of his own head. "ARGH! THE IMAGES! THE IMAGES! NNGH! HELP! MY BRAIN'S GONNA BLOW! AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH....."

"SHUT UP!" shouted Renamon.

Monodramon's screaming subsided and he cringed, bringing his legs up to his chest and babbling incoherently to himself. Absently, his eyes were drawn downwards, almost of their own accord. Renamon's other paw was placed firmly between her legs, hiding herself from his view.

Not that it mattered. He had just seen it anyway. And there was nothing she could do to hide the two receding bulges on her chest.

After about a minute, Terriermon emerged from the hideout as well, biting his lip sheepishly. Monodramon was covering his eyes with his taloned hands and refusing to look at anyone.

"Monodramon," said Renamon more calmly, her paw still clamped over her crotch. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Ryo's?"

"Ryo doesn't know where I am," said Monodramon, trembling slightly. "I came of my own accord. Please don't destroy me! I didn't know!"

"'Course you didn't know," said Terriermon, leaping up onto Renamon's shoulder. "Nobody does. We kept it secret from everyone, even our own partners."

"But... but..." Monodramon's mind was going into a whirlwind of thought. "You and you? Together? You're hitched?"

"I prefer the term mated," said Renamon, eyes narrowed.#

"But you two?" Monodramon repeated. "Not what I was expecting. I mean, come on. The jester and the warrior?"

"Over the last few days, we have sort of settled out differences," said Renamon.

After a long silence, Monodramon asked, "How?"

Renamon sighed and glanced at Terriermon. "We're going to have to tell him," said Terriermon. "If we don't I think he's gonna blow a gasket. Look at him."

Renamon sighed. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She lowered Monodramon to the ground. His legs collapsed underneath him and he fell onto his backside, his wide, unblinking eyes flicking back and forth from Renamon to Terriermon, his brain beginning to hurt under the strain of trying to think about how this could have possibly come about, his heart feeling like it was going to come right out of his chest. Renamon sat down before him and crossed her legs. Terriermon hopped off her shoulder and sat in her lap.

"Look," frowned Renamon. "This is what happened..."

Monodramon already knew most of the details sue to the information he had received from Goro about the kidnapping, but Renamon began to fill in the gaps in the story – the food and the Renamon's rule when it came to mating, and Terriermon's nightmare. A slow realisation began to dawn over the small purple dragon and the look of fear and shock changed to one of bemusement, which changed from that to a big stupid looking grin.

When Renamon had finished talking, Monodramon looked at Terriermon and said, "May I just say, for the benefit of all the male digimon in the Real World – darn."

Terriermon laughed. Even Renamon chuckled.

"I just never would have thought it – you two were on the brink of trying to kill each other last week."

"Isn't it funny how these things happen?" asked Terriermon.

"These things?" asked Monodramon. "First time I've ever heard of something like this."

"You are, of course, aware," said Renamon. "That you cannot tell anyone. You are not the being that I would have wanted to find out first."

Monodramon shook his head rather frantically. "I won't tell anyone, not even Ryo," he insisted. "I want to live. But this is... this huge. It's great, but... you two? Wow, I still don't believe it. This is the weirdest dream I have ever had."

"You better believe it," said Terriermon. "Now, I think you should go on home. Renamon and I have got some...catching up to do."

"Eew," said Monodramon. "Just because I know about you two it doesn't mean I want to see it."

"It's a bit late for that," laughed Terriermon. Monodramon shuddered.

"I saw a lot more of you than I ever wanted to see," he muttered.

"Am I going to have to keep an eye on you over the next few days?" asked Renamon.

"Just how long are you planning on going before you tell the others?" asked Monodramon back.

"Just a couple more days," said Terriermon. "Momentai, Monodramon. You shouldn't freak yourself out over it."

"Done that," said Monodramon. "It's overrated. But... er... well..."

"What?" asked Terriermon.

"What's it like?" asked Monodramon.

Terriermon rolled off Renamon's lap in laughter. When he composed himself he said, "You think biomerging is a rush?"

"Yes."

"Multiply that by ten!"

"Whoa," gasped Monodramon. "It's pretty good then."

"Best experience ever," said Terriermon.

"And it's going to get better each night, isn't it?" smiled Renamon, pulling Terriermon off the floor with her tail and briefly kissing him on the lips.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it," murmured Monodramon and got up to leave. Renamon got up too, Terriermon in her arms and headed back to the hideout.

"Momentai," called Terriermon over his mate's shoulder.

Monodramon watched them re-enter the hideout and then turned to walk back home, rubbing his eyes in a dazed way. It was beyond belief. He just could not believe it. But it was real. He had just seen Renamon doing it... with Terriermon.

An evil grin crept across his face. He wasn't going to tell anyone, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have fun with this. Terriermon was not the only joker, although he was the biggest one. In this form, Monodramon was more than capable of making some mischief of his own.

Behind him, he heard a slight grunt come from the hideout and he increased his speed.

* * *

Midday came around the following day. It was a Monday and that meant it was a day where the children had to return to school. It would certainly be an interesting experience for the digimon as they were going to go as well. It would be their first school visit for many of them. Terriermon had been before, but he'd had to stay disguised as a toy all previous times. Guilmon had been before to raid the cafeteria and freak out the principal and Renamon had often watched from afar. The rest of them, unfortunately, had no experience at all.

Rika had since transferred school and Henry had transferred classes at his insistence, so now, Takato, Henry, Rika, Jeri, Kazu and Kenta were all in the same class – in the highest year there. Suzie had joined the school in the lowest year, as she was now six going on seven. Ai and Mako had decided that they wanted to go to that school when they were old enough and Ryo remained as absent as ever.

Terriermon and Lopmon walked together in front of their Tamers as they went down the pavement. They were the first of the Tamers to arrive at the school that day. They usually were, because Henry liked to be punctual, even if Suzie didn't. Their parents had been slightly worried about letting the digimon into school, but surprisingly, they had been put down by Yamaki himself.

"If the Digimon are going to be accepted as a part of our society," he had said. "Then they should be allowed to integrate into our society as much as possible."

The children who were there already – (not many) – nudged each other and whispered behind their hands as Terriermon and Lopmon walked along. Lopmon looked nervous but Terriermon was striding confidently.

"Loppy, you can't let them see that you're nervous. To many of them, digimon are big brave creatures and they sort of expect us to be like that. Act like a Deva. It's easy."

"I suppose," murmured Lopmon before straightening her posture and bouncing up onto Suzie's head.

"Ah, good morning, Henry," said a voice that sounded so much like Kari Kamiya from the TV show. Henry, Suzie and their digimon turned around to see Ms. Asaji walking towards them. "I see you got your partner back," she said, with a slight smile. Terriermon had been the first Digital Monster that she had ever spoken to after all.

"Yeah, we're back and we're ready roll," Terriermon said, throwing a few punches into the air. "So, what delights have we got in the lessons today?"

"Well, it's English first (A.N. And by that I mean English as in the British sense), then Science, Maths, and some Geography in the afternoon."

"Science, huh?" asked Terriermon. "I'm going to assume that Henry trumps that class."

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

Ms. Asaji then turned to Suzie and the rabbit perched on her head. "I know you are Suzie, but I'm afraid that I don't know who your partner is."

"My name is Lopmon," said Lopmon. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

"Oh?" asked Ms. Asaji. "Like what?"

"I think Takato once said something about you destroying an entire rainforest."

Ms. Asaji blinked.

"I think he was complaining about homework at the time," said Henry.

"That boy," muttered Ms. Asaji. "Well, come in I suppose. We've got a long day before us, and I am intent on enjoying every moment I can, and by that I mean, until Kazu and Kenta show up."

Terriermon howled with laughter.

* * *

Eventually, all the Tamers and their digimon who went to this school were gathered in Ms. Asaji's classroom. Renamon and Terriermon, after communicating via brain power, decided not to do too much integrating today, just so as not to give suspicion any room. Monodramon had already found out due to them not being very careful, and it looked like Lopmon might not be far behind.

Suzie and Lopmon waved goodbye as Suzie led them off to their own class.

"Okay, children," said Ms. Asaji, wearily. "As you are all aware we have some guests today and they are going to be sticking around for the majority of the time. So, although I know that all off you are fascinated with the d... AYAKA, LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

One of Jeri's friends, Ayaka, flushed and gave a flustered and breathless MarineAngemon back to Kenta.

"This is what I was afraid of," groaned Ms. Asaji. "Look children, the digimon may be here but you are still expected to work. So stop ogling over them."

"We can always leave if they don't work," said Renamon form the corner, where she was half hidden in the shadows. There was a round of nodding from the others and a slight whine from Calumon, who Jeri had brought along.

And so the school day began, the children eventually settled down and began to work quietly. Ms. Asaji had said that if they didn't they'd be given extra homework, and considering the amount of homework they already received, not one of them wanted to have any extra.

English passed smoothly, the only noise being Calumon repeatedly asking what Jeri and the others were doing and Terriermon and Guilmon entering and leaving the room in order to ask for some food at the cafeteria. The day passed into silence and Ms. Asaji started to talk about food chains and webs and endangered species. At that point, Renamon vanished and reappeared five minutes later with an extra guest, the jackal renamed Isis.

Just as Ms. Asaji began to talk about why Isis was an endangered species, music began to play from somewhere. Everyone looked around for the source, but there was nothing. It was the music of a rock band, with guitar and drum very much in evidence. Then the lyrics began to play:-

"I wanna do it till the sun comes up  
'til we're both so good and sweaty  
that we can't stand up  
I wanna do it till we're both about to drop  
as long as we're tied up together  
then we're never gonna stop

I wanna go until the neighbours all complain  
because they heard somebody screamin'  
and they think we're both in pain  
I wanna go so long your parents think you've died  
there gonna call the cops, the CIA, and then the FBI!"

Suddenly Monodramon leapt into view, on the windowsill, grinning madly and holding a small CD player with built-in speakers in one hand. He winked at the others and Renamon paled over under her fur. Terriermon looked worried too, but at the same time, he thought it was actually very funny.

Monodramon began to back-flip around the room as the song continued to play:-

"Yeah...  
we're gonna love it when the lights go down  
hold on here we go  
yeah...  
we're gonna go until our legs give out  
round and round we go  
yeah...  
we're gonna do it hangin' upside down  
up and down we go  
yeah...  
we're getting ready for the next go round  
round and round we go!!!"

"What the hell are you doing, Monodramon?" yelled Rika at him, as he leapt right over to her and onto Guardromon's head, where he began to bounce up and down.

"Go easy on the metal there," complained Guardromon.

Renamon lunged forward and grabbed him. "This is a school," she said, giving him her famous death glare, before bodily throwing him out of the window.

"So shut the windows, lock the doors, unplug the phone  
for all intents and purposes there ain't nobody home  
then we can do it..."

The song eventually faded away, as Monodramon ran off, laughing. His mission was complete. Thank you Nickelback.

Lopmon watched him from the window on the ground floor. Luckily the song had not been picked up by any of that class, but her keen hearing had caught every word of it. What had that been all about? She remembered that Monodramon, although he had been Cyberdramon at the time, had come to her yesterday to ask information about what Terriermon had been doing the previous night. Once she had told him about Terriermon's night outing, he had left.

She frowned. Whatever was wrong with Terriermon, she was sure that Monodramon knew what it was.

"Suzie," she said. Suzie looked up from where she was trying to learn joined up writing and looked up, as did the rest of the class.

"Yeah?"

"There's something that I have to do," she said. "Can you excuse me for a few minutes?"

Suzie nodded uncertainly. Since bringing Lopmon into the class she had become the height of cool.

"Thank you." Lopmon spread her ears and launched herself off the windowsill and pursued the fleeing Monodramon.

* * *

Monodramon got as far as the park before breaking into laughter. The look on Renamon's face had been priceless. Priceless. And as for Terriermon, his face showed he was torn between amusement and terror.

"Monodramon?"

The soft, polite, female voice cut his laughter short and he balked. How had Lopmon managed to get within three feet on him without him noticing?

"Listen," said Lopmon. "You know something don't you?"

"No," said Monodramon, far too quickly, then cursing himself for doing so.

Lopmon cocked an eyebrow. "I know you do," she said. "All the signs point to it. I need you to tell me what's going on. Terriermon is like a brother to me but he won't tell me anything. Both last night and this morning, he was far more exhausted than normal. Where had he been going on these nightly outings?"

Monodramon clamped his beak shut. He had promised Renamon and Terriermon that he would say nothing. While the joke had been unbearably funny at the time, he was now seriously annoyed with himself for doing it.

"What was that song?" asked Lopmon.

"Er, "Next Go Round" by Nickelback," muttered Monodramon.

"Something's going on with Terriermon," said Lopmon. "And you know what it is. I just know it. Then you leap into the room that Terriermon just happens to be in and start playing a song like that by coincidence?" Lopmon shook her head. "I'm not going to believe that."

"But..."

"Shush," said Lopmon. "I am going to hazard a wild guess here and say that Terriermon was having sex those last two nights wasn't he?"

Monodramon blinked and said nothing.

"You can tell me, you know," said Lopmon. "Just let me know if I'm wrong. I'm concerned for him. And I am going to assume it was with a girl digimon and since I know it wasn't me, I'll guess that it was Renamon. Am I right?"

Monodramon said nothing.

"Monodramon," prompted Lopmon.

"I promised Terriermon that I wouldn't say anything to anyone," mumbled Monodramon. "And Renamon would kill me if I...oops."

Monodramon's claws flew to his beak and he held it shut. Lopmon stared at him, wide-eyed, unblinking, like a deer staring into approaching headlights.

Then, ever so slowly, a grin broke out over her face and she sat down. "That's great," she said. "They're mated? I thought Terriermon smelt funny. Oh, that's wonderful."

"It is?" Monodramon asked. He'd been expecting jealousy or something, but Lopmon seemed quite happy. More than happy – she was delighted. But she had said Terriermon was like a brother. "I suppose it is, yes."

"You walked in on them doing it, didn't you," frowned Lopmon, suddenly.

"Er, yes," said Monodramon.

Lopmon tutted and shook her head. "Thank you for the information," said Lopmon, before turning around and heading back in the direction of the school.

"Don't tell Renamon about me!" called Monodramon after her, before turning himself to head back to the school where Ryo studied.

* * *

_I don't believe he did that, muttered Renamon in her thoughts. __Suppose somebody had figured it out._

_You have to admit it was quite funny._

_No, I don't have to admit that. That may have been the most terrifying experience of my life. Worse than the D-Reaper._

_Eesh, anything that trumps the D-Reaper must be uber-bad._

The class had settled back down after quite some tumult, but Ms. Asaji had once again won out with the threat of added homework. Guilmon and Calumon were snacking on bread and cheese in the corner, while MarineAngemon had gone to sleep. Guardromon just stood in the corner. Many wondered if it was impossible for the robot to get bored, because Terriermon certainly was.

"Henry, can I go and stretch my limbs," he pleaded. "I think I'm beginning to understand why a teacher's job is boring, just watching you guy's endlessly scribble things."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Sure, go ahead."

"I'll take Isis home, Rika," said Renamon. The jackal had been curled up in the corner next to Guardromon for most of it. Renamon scooped him up and vanished in a blur. Terriermon headed to the window, bouncing off Takato's desk as he did so. Then he turned and said, "Miss, Takato's drawing pictures of Jeri," before leaping out backwards and giggling to the spluttering noises of Takato.

He landed, giggling, in the school yard. He glanced at the window and then turned around to have a slight stroll. He almost collided slap-bang with Lopmon as he did so.

"Whoa," he cried. "Er, hi," he grinned, then faltered. Lopmon was wearing an expression that had a certain triumphant smirk about it, like she knew something he didn't.

"What?" he asked.

"You and Renamon, huh?" asked Lopmon.

Terriermon's blood ran ice-cold. Admittedly it was Digital Blood, but it still was suddenly freezing. "Uh..." he said, not entirely sure what to say. "What...er...gave you that idea?"

"Well, the fact you've been disappearing and returning with a peculiar smell about you was a bit of a clue. Then Monodramon leaps into the room the two of you are in playing a song about wild you-know-what. It was enough to raise my suspicions."

"But...that's not proof," blustered Terriermon.

"It is if Monodramon says it is," said Lopmon.

"Argh, that idiot," Terriermon snarled. "I'll delete him."

"No, you won't."

Terriermon blinked as Lopmon wrapped her small arms around his neck and hugged him for about five seconds before releasing him but still holding his shoulders with her hands. "Listen Terriermon, I think this is fantastic."

"You do?"

"Yes. Last week you had the biggest fight that any of us have ever had with Renamon and barely a week later you've been mated. And you're happy about it. It's so romantic, actually."

"Er..."

"Momentai."

"Hey."

"I mean it," said Lopmon. "You've found the love of your life. It's brilliant."

"Um... yeah. It is, isn't it," Terriermon was suddenly grinning and now he hugged Lopmon and span her in a circle. "It's great. I've been mated. Me. It's still sinking in, you know. It's just...wow."

Lopmon's face fell ever so slightly. "I wonder if I'll ever find a mate."

"Oh, come on," scoffed Terriermon. "If _I_ can find a mate then you certainly can."

"Thanks, but I don't think that any of the other males are my kind of person."

"Well, I didn't think that Renamon was my kind of person until three days ago. Hell, six days ago I thought she was the least likely of all female digimon that I would mate with."

Lopmon nodded. Terriermon suddenly thought, "Are you going to tell anyone."

Lopmon shook her head. "No, I'm not. But, knowing the truth is a bit of a relief actually. I was half convinced at one point this morning that you were going out and doing something extremely dangerous."

"I think that what I have been doing is slightly dangerous," winked Terriermon. "If Rika had walked in instead of Monodramon..." he shuddered.

"How did Monodramon take it?"

"He freaked out. Completely. His brain nearly exploded."

Lopmon giggled.

"What's going on?"

Renamon had just landed on the wall of the school and was looking down at them. "Rena," said Terriermon, not bothering to restrict his pet name for her. "Momentai. Lopmon knows. She figured it out."

Renamon's eyes widened. She looked down worriedly at Lopmon, but relaxed at the sight of her bunny friend beaming up at her.

"Am I going to have to put up the protective sibling act," she smiled and then her expression changed. "If you hurt him then I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!"

Terriermon laughed. "I didn't know you even could shout like that."

Renamon smiled and leapt down to sit cross-legged. Terriermon looked from his mate to his sister(ish) and felt extreme contentment seep through him. This was a great moment. He was surrounded by his digimon family.

Terriermon addressed Renamon. "I'm thinking of adopting Lopmon as my sister."

Lopmon blinked. "Can you do that?"

"If so, then yes, because I couldn't ask for a better one," Terriermon raised on ear and curled the end like a fist. Lopmon did the same and they touched "fists." "So, I think we should take a vow. A vow that we will do anything we can to protect anyone in this triangle if they are in trouble and it is within our power to do so."

"I could go with that," said Renamon. Lopmon was her best friend and practically her sister-in-law, if you went into human terms now. She held her hand out palm-downwards. Terriermon placed his ear over the top of it and Lopmon placed her ear over his.

"This pact applies to our Tamers as well," she said. Terriermon and Renamon nodded.

"We're gonna face whatever the world throws at us together," said Renamon. "The three of us. Even if our Tamers forbid us to save the other, we will not listen."

"That's not very likely is it?" asked Terriermon.

"No," said Renamon. "And let us hope that the need to do that will never arise."

* * *

"Azulongmon," said Zhuqiaomon the great phoenix Sovereign of the south, to the great dragon Sovereign of the east. "I trust that you too have sensed the disturbances in the Digital World of late."

"Yes, Zhuqiaomon, I have," sighed Azulongmon. "I had hoped that they were just my imagination, for the nudges at my conscience were so faint at first, but they have been steadily growing stronger."

"And I also trust that you know what they mean."

"Hold up there, Mr. Fireboy McFlappy," said the Irish voice of the left head of Ebonwumon, the great turtle Sovereign of the north. "We all nu waaat it means. We are not completely dense."

"E'en thocht we're gettin' auld," said the right Scottish head.

"He must be getting loose," said Baihumon, the great tiger Sovereign of the north. "From the prison where we sealed him all those years ago."

"I feared that this might happen," said Azulongmon. "It seems the D-Reaper was able to spread further than we anticipated it had before its evolution was reversed by the Tamers. It must have weakened the prison barriers."

"Would that it had got a little further and destroyed him once and for all," rumbled Zhuqiaomon.

"Indeed," said Azulongmon. "Unfortunately that was not the case. We must prepare for his imminent arrival."

"It is not like that he is a great threat to us," said Zhuqiaomon. "We stopped him before and we can stop him a second time."

"I have no doubt in our ability to hold him off," said Azulongmon. "But it appears the Digi-Gnomes have re-opened the passages to the Human World in order to fulfil the wishes of the partner's of the Tamers to return."

"Somebody 'as got ter warn dem av de imminent danger jist in case he manages ter travel dare," said Irish-Ebonwumon.

"That can always be arranged," said Baihumon. "One of the former Devas is a partner now, is she not?"

"As much as it pains me to say it, yes," growled Zhuqiaomon. Although his feelings of hatred towards humans had ebbed a little after their major part in stopping the True Enemy, they had not completely subsided.

"Then I shall send one of my servants to her," said Azulongmon. "She will no doubt pass the message back to the other Tamers and their digimon. I believe her own young Tamer has not seen any of my servants, so she may not be as frightened."

"Which body ur ye gonnae send?" asked Scottish-Ebonwumon.

Azulongmon's massive head snaked around and said, "Mihiramon!"

A second tiger bounded into sight. This one was orange with purple shields on its shoulders and hips, feathered striped wings and a long tail. The stripes covering him were purple instead of black. There was a red scarf around his neck and purple guards on the lower parts of all four legs and three small horns on his forehead, just like Lopmon. It was one of the old Devas, the first one to attack the Digital World. Most of the Devas, because they had not been truly evil, merely misguided like their master Zhuqiaomon, had been returned to the world by Anubimon. Those whose data had been absorbed, such as Majiramon, Makuramon and Chatsuramon, were still absent, and of course Antylamon was now a partner, but the others had all returned, and had been split amongst the Sovereigns as servants.

"Yes, my lord," said Mihiramon, bowing his head.

"I have a task for you. Aside from the True Enemy, our other greatest threat is on the verge of escape."

Mihiramon tensed. "What is you task for me?"

"The Tamers must be warned," said Azulongmon. "I wish for you to enter the human world and find the former Deva Antylamon. Warn her of the looming threat and tell her that we shall send help. We ourselves shall remain in the Digital World to prevent it from falling, but the Tamers must protect their own world."

"As you wish, my lord," said Mihiramon, with a slight growl.

"Mihiramon," warned Azulongmon. "The humans are not the beings you once believed them to be. No attacking. You must win their friendship and perhaps, in time, they shall win your own."

Mihiramon bowed his head and turned to leave.

"Ah, de young are alwus so queck ter judge," said Irish-Ebonwumon.

"Yeah, 'at was his downfaa lest time," said the other head.

* * *

Mihiramon bounded up to the highest level of the Digital World, the level where the desert stretched across the entire place. He looked up at the human world. He scowled. The humans had destroyed many of his brethren before. Granted, they had been the ones that had instigated the attack, but still...

He began to run again, heading towards the nearest of the Data Streams that were coming off the green orb high in the sky. They were one of the easiest ways of getting up there. There were Data Streams all over the Digital World, but it was the once which came out of the globe that led up to the planet. The only trouble was finding them.

Of course, Mihiramon had wings. So he used them. He could not fail Azulongmon, his new master. He had failed Zhuqiaomon. He would not fail the other Sovereign.

* * *

Renamon watched the assorted children from the school gambolling and playing around in the school-yard. The little children in Suzie's year, along with Suzie herself, had initiated a game of tag, and, naturally, Calumon, Terriermon and Guilmon had joined in, although the kids were a little wary of Guilmon at first. Lopmon had also joined the game, because Suzie had asked her to, no pleaded was a better word. The children in Rika's year were admiring Guardromon if they were a boy and admiring MarineAngemon if they were a girl.

"Hey there, Fox-face," said an unmistakable voice. Renamon looked around to see Impmon approaching.

"Hello, Impmon," she said. "How are you?"

"Doing very well actually," said Impmon. "I think I've been accepted into the house now. Ai and Mako's parents were extremely wary of me these last few days, but I think everything's alright now. You?"

"Actually," said Renamon. "I couldn't be better."

"Oh?" asked Impmon. "And why's that?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"I think Terriermon's starting to rub off on you," grinned Impmon.

Renamon bit her lip and struggled not to laugh. Impmon had, unwittingly, come very close to the actual reason just then. She was very relieved when Impmon spotted the game below and shouted, "Hey, wait, let me play," so she could let out the laughter as he hopped off the wall.

She wiped her eyes when she regained her composure. "Break's nearly over, Renamon," Rika called up to her.

"Alright," said Renamon, before turning her attention back to the game. Something caught her eye.

Lopmon.

She had, for some reason, suddenly stopped running and this had caused Calumon to run slap-bang into her. She barely seemed to notice. She was suddenly staring up into the sky. Renamon followed the direction of her gaze and saw nothing. She hopped down and walked over to her best friend.

"Are you okay, Lopmon?" she asked.

"Erm," said Lopmon. "I think so but... I sense something."

Renamon tensed and looked up again. "A digimon?" she asked.

"I think so," said Lopmon. "But... it's just... it's so familiar."

Renamon looked down at Lopmon, who was still scrutinising the sky. Suddenly she gasped and pointed, "There!" she cried, at the exact same time that Renamon felt the familiar tingle go down her spine.

"You're right," she said, as a lance of light came down from the sky and a Digital Field formed right outside the school. Children screamed, unsure of what was going on, as the Tamers leapt up and took out their D-Arcs and the Digimon all immediately stopped what they were doing and turned, tensed, Guilmon going feral.

Then, the Digital Field began to fade and a large silhouette could be seen in the fog as it began to get thinner. "Are you ready, Renamon?" asked Rika. Renamon nodded.

"Terriermon?" asked Henry. Another nod.

"You too, Guilmon," said Takato. A growl was his only reply.

Lopmon suddenly gasped and cried, "No! Wait!" As the Tamers began to get out their cards. They paused, confused, as Lopmon ran forward and stood right before the Digital Field. It was still fading and the large figure could be seen moving forwards, towards the school gate. A good many of the children were standing, anticipating a Digimon battle with excitement, while the teachers tried to round them up and get them away.

Lopmon screwed up her eyes and called "Is that you, Mihiramon?"

There was gasping and cries of "What!" from the assembled Tamers. They knew who Mihiramon was – after all, they had fought him and would have lost to him were it not for a timely Digivolution on the part of Growlmon.

"Yes," was the answer, as the familiar figure of Mihiramon stepped out of the last of the fog and stood, towering over Lopmon.

"Lopmon! Get away!" cried Takato. "He's a Deva!"

"So am I!" Lopmon snapped angrily. Takato blinked. Lopmon never snapped.

The female rabbit turned back to the winged tiger. "It's good to see you again."

"I have to admit the same," said Mihiramon. "I was reformatted by Anubimon and am now under the service of Azulongmon. I congratulate you though, Antylamon...no, Lopmon. The only Deva to survive the whole thing with needing to be reformatted."

Lopmon nodded. "And the others?"

"All restored except those whose data was absorbed," said Mihiramon. "But if you ask me, we are well shot of Makuramon at least. He was just annoying, and his head was ridiculously big. Then again, he was big-headed."

Lopmon laughed a little, as did Terriermon. He walked up and stood by Lopmon, as did Renamon. Lopmon smiled at them and said, "This is my brother, well, not brother, but almost brother, Terriermon and my best digimon friend Renamon."

Mihiramon regarded them. These were the two who he had successfully defeated, but he said nothing, he merely nodded.

"Why are you here, Mihiramon?" asked Lopmon.

The tiger seemed to stand up straighter as he said four words. Four words, which were eerily reminiscent of another time where the Sovereigns had sent a Digimon to the human world:-

"To deliver a message."

* * *

There it is people. Took me a whole morning to write that. The plot is beginning to thicken now. Why Mihiramon, some of you may ask. Well, to put it bluntly, besides Antylamon he was my favourite of the Devas. Most of the others looked completely ridiculous. Makuramon looked like an idiot, Indramon, Sinduramon and Kumbhiramon all looked stupid, and don't even get me started on Vikaralamon.

* * *

Next time...

Mihiramon tells the Tamers of the impending danger. Will anyone else find out about the relationship between Renamon and Terriermon?

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 11:- The Lord of Darkness**


	11. The Lord Of Darkness

Holy crap.

I just found the ultimate enemy digimon on the Digimon Wiki website and after looking up the pages on all the other digimon that I plan to appear in this story, it all seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. I still wasn't completely sure who I was going to use until now after Mihiramon's ominous words at the end of the last chapter. Not anymore. So I'll put you out of part of your misery and get on with telling you who it is that the Sovereigns are so worried about.

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 11:- The Lord Of Darkness**

* * *

"A message?" asked Takato, suspiciously. Just because Lopmon was okay with Mihiramon being here didn't mean that he would completely trust him. Most of the other Tamers were of similar opinions – the only one who wasn't was Suzie, who had never seen Mihiramon before and who trusted her partner completely.

"That is correct," said Mihiramon. "Straight from Azulongmon himself, to deliver to the former Deva Antylamon, who will most likely find this message far more significant than you."

"Well then?" Rika demanded. "Spit it out, Kitty."

"What did you call me!" roared Mihiramon, causing most of the crowd of kids to scream in panic and flee into the school, which was just child-like belief that they'd be safe inside, because the school would do nothing to protect them at all if Mihiramon wanted to get in.

"Mihiramon, please," said Lopmon, holding her arms wide. "Do not take it personally. Rika can be rude like that to anyone. And Rika, er, that was one of the things that Makuramon used to call Mihiramon. Makuramon may have been the smartest, but Mihiramon was the most cunning and I think Makuramon was jealous."

Mihiramon settled back on his haunches and glared at Rika, who had to stop herself from flinching at the anger in his gaze.

"Very well, but do not call me that again," he growled, before turning back to Lopmon.

"Here it is, Lopmon," he said with a low rumble. "Ogudomon is breaking loose."

Lopmon gasped and almost stumbled with shock. She would have fallen flat on her back, but she was caught be Terriermon. "Ogudomon!" she spluttered. "Oh no, it can't be."

"I'm afraid it is," said Mihiramon. "The Sovereigns have been sensing his return. They think the True Enemy must have severely crippled the prison where he is being held."

"Who's Ogudomon?" asked Kazu. "I've never heard of him."

"Me neither," said Rika, followed by a round chorus of the other Tamers and the other digimon saying that they had no idea who this Ogudomon was. Lopmon turned to face them.

"Then be prepared for a long story," she said. "This could take a bit of time, but I'll try to bring you up to date."

"Wait," said Henry. "We should get the other Tamers here before we find out. That way these two won't have to repeat themselves."

"And we should probably go to a place a little more secluded than this," Renamon indicated the masses of children pushing and shoving for a better view at the windows.

"I'll go get Ai and Mako," said Impmon, running past Mihiramon before being enveloped in light and flying away as Beelzemon Blast Mode. Mihiramon's eyes widened.

"A Beelzemon?" he mused. "With a Tamer?"

"Two Tamers actually," said Lopmon. "Come on, let's head for the park."

"What is a park?" asked Mihiramon.

"It's a human recreational area. A stretch of grass and trees where children can play. We go there quite often to discuss plans, as we're less likely to be overheard."

"I see," said Mihiramon, as Lopmon began to lead him off and the rest of the Tamers and partners followed more cautiously. "Are the rumours true? Can you partner digimon reach the Mega level by merging with your humans?"

"Well, er, yes," said Lopmon. "But... I have yet to reach that stage. The ones who have managed to do are Guilmon, Terriermon, Renamon and Monodramon, who is not here yet."

"Wrong!"

Monodramon was coming down the path ahead of them. Only, he wasn't Monodramon anymore. He was Cyberdramon once again, and Ryo was beside him. It was him who had spoken.

"I got the signal of a new Digimon on my D-Arc," he said. "Who is this?"

His statement was followed by a low growl and a flexing of claws by Cyberdramon, who would have leapt by now if he hadn't spotted that the tiger seemed to be getting on very well with Lopmon, and therefore might not be a threat. If so, damn.

"This is my old friend Mihiramon," said Lopmon. "And he's here under order from the Sovereign himself to give us a message."

"Let's wait here for Impmon and his Tamers," said Henry, sitting down on a low wall.

"Can we play while we're waiting," chirped Calumon.

"Last one to that tree is it!" yelled Terriermon, bounding away, closely followed by all those who regularly participated in these games. Mihiramon watched them with interest.

"Strange," he murmured. "I haven't done anything like that in years."

"I suppose being under the command of the Sovereigns eliminates those kind of things," grinned Ryo, who was quite at ease around the tiger Deva.

"Indeed," said Mihiramon, before falling silent.

* * *

When Beelzemon arrived with Ai and Mako, and de-digivolved, Mihiramon stood and Lopmon clambered up onto his head.

"Right then," said Impmon. "Who's this Ogudomon guy?"

"He is one of the most evil Digimon of all time," said Lopmon. "Many years ago, shortly after the Digital World began to change and Digimon were able to evolve, he went on a rampage there. Tell me, I'm sure that some of you know of the Seven Deadly Sins."

There was nodding and noises of confirmation from all but the youngest Tamers and some of the Digimon. "The Seven Deadly Sins," said Mihiramon. "Are exactly what they sound like – seven of the worst traits that you can find in anybody. These are Pride, Wrath, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth and Envy."

"What is lust, Henry?" asked Suzie.

"Er, when you're older," said Henry.

"Aaw, that's your answer to everything," pouted Suzie.

Bravely, Mako stepped forward and said, "I thought a sloth was an animal."

"It is," said Henry, "but the other use for the word means being very, very lazy – you know, like sleeping for hours on end during the day and stuff like that. Like a sloth."

"Exactly," said Mihiramon. "And once in the past, there was a digimon that represented each of these sins. A very powerful virus digimon, taking on the form of a Demon. For this reason they were known as the Seven Great Demon Lords."

"Well, what happened to them?" asked Kenta.

"The Sovereigns managed to cast them down," said Lopmon. "Well, most of them anyway. The Demon Lords of Lust, Pride and Wrath, Lilithmon, Lucemon Chaos Mode and Daemon – yes Daemon," she said at the sharp intake of breath from all of the Tamers. "They were destroyed by the Sovereigns. Belphemon, the Lord of sloth, defeated himself. He reverts to Digi-egg form after a few weeks of havoc to sleep for 1000 years and his Digi-egg was sealed away in an ancient temple. Beelzemon," here she cast a significant look at Impmon, who blanched in horror, "vanished. Nobody was sure what had happened to him until recently."

Impmon looked horrified. "And you never said!"

"It was obvious from what I heard that if the Beelzemon had been you, then you had no memory of your past," explained Lopmon. "It's obvious that you repent for everything you did that you do remember and I didn't want to add to your sorrow and regret by making you think you once conspired to destroy the whole world with six others, when it may not even be true."

Impmon looked slightly put out, but then mumbled, "Thanks." Then he asked, "What sin did I have?"

"Beelzemon was the Lord of Gluttony," said Mihiramon.

A defiant and slightly angry look sprung into Impmon's eyes, but then he paused, shrugged and said, "Fair enough."

"But that leaves Envy and Greed," said Henry. "What happened to them."

"They were the last two standing," said Lopmon. "Things were getting desperate for them by then. Their leader, Lucemon, was gone, and so were their main heavy-hitters Daemon and Belphemon. Barbamon, Lord of Greed, and Leviamon, Lord of Envy, tried to become stronger and fulfil their aim. Barbamon was a sort of wizard-like Demon and he cast a spell which caused a forced DNA digivolution. They became Ogudomon."

"But they were still defeated, right," said Takato.

"Thankfully, yes," said Mihiramon. "But Ogudomon had a massive advantage. He is the very essence of sin and can control it. If any Digimon has any hint of malice in their hearts, the their attacks have no effect whatsoever on Ogudomon."

"And you're saying the Sovereigns beat him?" said Terriermon. "I don't know about you but Zhuqiaomon has quite a bit of malice in his heart in my opinion. How did that work?"

"The Sovereigns are not the most powerful Digimon in the Digital World," said Mihiramon, causing a great amount of surprise. "There are two who are far beyond them in power, but they rarely ever show their faces. Neither of them has any business meddling directly in the affairs of the Digital World.

"One of them is Anubimon. He controls the Dark Area, where all Digimon who die and do not have their data absorbed go. He then uses a special scale to weigh their good and evil side against each other. If they were evil digimon, their data was completely destroyed, but if they were good, they would be sent back to the Digital World as Digi-eggs. But Anubimon cannot interfere with the Land of the Living. At least not directly. But believe it or not, he has helped you in the past."

"He has?" asked Takato. "When?"

"He sent a servant of his to the Sovereigns because he knew that you would have trouble against the D-Reaper."

"Dobermon," breathed Rika.

"Yes," nodded Mihiramon. "Dobermon is Anubimon's champion form and he was not afraid to die, as he had come from Anubimon's realm anyway. In a way, he was just sacrificing himself in order to go back. But we haven't heard from Anubimon since."

"The other one more powerful than the Sovereigns is the one who created the Sovereigns in the first place. The Digimon God."

"There's a Digimon God?" asked Kazu.

"Yes," said Lopmon. "Fanglongmon." She said the name with a reverence, far beyond that which she used when she spoke about the Sovereigns.

"It was Fanglongmon who created the Sovereigns. He is omniscient and he knew that Ogudomon would be coming along and that is why he placed an immunity to Ogudomon's nullifying power in each of the four Sovereigns, meaning they were able to take him down just as they had taken down the others. But Ogudomon was far more powerful than the other Digimon and so they could not destroy him. So, they weakened him severely and imprisoned him in a giant cell with Chrome-Digizoid walls, the strongest ever metal. Nothing can break it physically without a huge amount of strain."

"But that didn't stop the D-Reaper," said Lopmon. "It eats anything made of data and many things that aren't, so the walls were now problem at all, I am assuming."

"No, they weren't," said Mihiramon. "And it seems he is just about to break loose."

"How does this concern us, anyway?" asked Renamon.

"The Sovereigns should have no trouble defeating Ogudomon again should he attack the Digital World," said Mihiramon. "But the passages from the human world to the Digital World have been reopened by the Digi-Gnomes that remain. You are the ones who protect this world, so you may be its only hope for survival."

"Bring him on," cried Terriermon. "We can take him."

"No, you can't," said Mihiramon. Terriermon blinked. "You do not have the immunity to his power that the Sovereigns have, so you will be unable to take him out. However, you are all incredibly strong now, so the Sovereigns say that you should be able to hold him off long enough for them to get to you and take care of him themselves."

"How can we hold him off if our attacks have no effect?" asked Renamon.

"While your attacks will have no effect damage-wise," continued the tiger Deva. "They can still be like a physical blow and knock him back a little. Not to mention, that despite him being incredibly large and very, very powerful, his attacks are not that great. He has a forward offensive and a radial attack. The forward offensive is very basic – he tries to run straight over you, which is remarkably easy to avoid or block. His radial attack is a shockwave, another thing which can be avoided and doesn't cause a great deal of damage to a strong digimon. His technique is to wear them slowly down. It's more fun to prolong the kill, apparently.

"And what's more," added Mihiramon. "You will not be alone. The Sovereigns have predicted he will break out within three days. They are more than enough to protect the Digital World, so they are going to send some of their servants and friends to help you. And by that, I mean some of the other Devas, and the Mega Digimon formed at the Shining Digivolution who survived the D-Reaper assault."

"Why couldn't this Fanglongmon guy come and stomp on him?" asked Kazu, loudly.

"Must I spell it out for you, human?" snarled Mihiramon. Kazu blinked. "Fanglongmon does not interfere directly with the affairs of the Digital World, nor your world. He is a God. What's more, he has not been heard of since. It is said he has gone to ground until a certain time, when he will arise once again."

"Yeesh, I wouldn't want to be around at that time," said Kenta. "If the D-Reaper or Ogudomon are not bad enough to raise a God I don't want to see what is."

"Wuss," muttered Impmon.

"Is that everything Mihiramon?" asked Lopmon. "Did Azulongmon give you any more information?"

"No," said the tiger. "And now, I must return and let them know that I have passed on the message."

"The closest portal is through there," Lopmon pointed at the hideout not far away. "There's a tunnel with the portal at the end."

"I dug it," said Guilmon proudly.

"Thank you," said Mihiramon, standing up and slinking into the hideout, wings folding onto his back. Lopmon leapt off his head as he went in. As he did, his nose was assailed by a powerful smell.

"Whoa," he cried. "Someone's been rutting in here," he said.

Those who knew what that word meant froze in either confusion, amusement or horror. Mihiramon disappeared down the tunnel and went through the portal.

"Henry, what is rutting?" asked Suzie.

"When you're older," said Henry.

"See, what did I say?"

"Who'd go rutting in there?" asked Takato.

"Forget about it, Chumley. It's not that important," said Kazu. Although he didn't know it, he got the enormous gratitude of two Digimon in the area.

"Well, this is just fantastic," muttered Rika sourly. "We've got some super-powerful maniac Demon Digimon that we can't stop heading our way."

"I still don't see why being a God gives you privileges," snorted Kazu.

"Don't make fun of Fanglongmon," said Lopmon. "There is a prophecy about his return, but it makes almost no sense. It goes like, The Power of Dry, Shall come on by, So all eight must die, and His rise will be nigh."

"The Power of what?" grinned Terriermon.

"I know. Dry. It makes no sense."

"Too right."

"Well," said Henry. "The first thing we should do is warn Yamaki. If this Ogudomon attacks the city it'll need to be evacuated at top speed, and Yamaki's the highest friend we have. I'm sure that radial attack could do a lot of damage."

"Suppose he doesn't come at all?" asked Takato. "Aren't people going to be annoyed?"

"They're just gonna have to lump it, Gogglehead," said Rika. "After all, we are trying to protect them."

"We could always put some fake story out like a big gas leak or something," suggested Ryo. "That's clear the area pretty quickly."

"Good idea," said Henry.

"I wonder which of the Digimon will be coming to help us," said Jeri.

"Do you guys know which of the Digimon survived?" quizzed Rika.

"Not all of them," said Guardromon. "But we were aware that Jijimon and Babamon both survived. Perhaps they might be coming to help us."

"I hope so," said Kazu. "Those two were a laugh. And Babamon's a better cook than my own mother, but don't tell my mum I said that."

"And get another kicking. I wouldn't dream of it," said Guardromon.

While the others continued to discuss plans, Renamon fixed Terriermon with her gaze and thought at him, _We're going to probably have to tell them soon._

_Why? What's changed?_

_What are the odds of this Ogudomon coming to the human world, do you think?_

_Well, since he knows that he can get whupped by the Sovereigns, I'd say it's pretty much a given._

_Exactly. And of course, that means that in order to hold him back, we are going to have to biomerge with our Tamers._

_And that is going to be a bid deal because...?_

_I don't think we're going to be able to hide the fact that we're mated. They are going to feel the incredibly strong bond between us. After all, biomerging turns human and digimon into one being._

_Eew. Are you saying that I'd be mated to Rika?_

_In a roundabout sort of way, yes. But that's not what matters. It would be very indirect. But we should tell them before the battle. They might get too shocked to act in a battle situation if they find out then._

_Well, Mihiramon said that Ogudomon should get loose and come charging through for some stupid reason within three days. That gives us tonight and the night after to finish the bond and then one more day to tell them._

Terriermon felt a wave of nervousness come from his mate. _Momentai_, he thought. Then he turned his attention back to the conversation being had. Henry and Suzie were having a very heated debate.

"NO! NO! NONONONONO! I won't go!"

"Suzie," sighed Henry. "You have to go with Mum and the others when we evacuate the city."

"NO! I want to stay and help!"

"You can't do much," said Henry. "You and Lopmon haven't biomerged yet. You'd just be in a danger zone."

"He's right, Suzie," said Lopmon. "Ogudomon's radial attack could do catastrophic damage to a human. All those who cannot biomerged should not be in the vicinity at the time. They'd just get killed."

"But what about you?" asked Suzie.

"I will stay and help," said Lopmon. "It is my duty to this world and we're going to need all the Digimon help we can get."

"You hear that, you two?" asked Impmon. "You're going with Suzie. I won't have you getting hurt."

"We always miss this stuff," grumbled Ai. Mako nodded.

"It's for your own good."

"You two will have to go with them as well," said Ryo to Kazu and Kenta.

"What? Come on," cried Kazu. "You can't seriously expect us to stay behind while the rest of friends are in danger!"

"Yeah, we're Tamers too," declared Kenta.

"Guys, he's right," said Jeri. "We'd just get in the way. Think of all the times in the past where the Digimon have been put at a disadvantage because they've had to protect us."

"You've got a good head on your shoulders," said Ryo, giving Jeri a thumbs up. Kazu grumbled to himself and Kenta stared at the floor.

"We better get started," said Henry. "The sooner the better. Let's make a trip to HYPNOS."

* * *

Things began to move very fast after that. Weirdly fast, in fact. The news began to spread of a major gas leak breaking out in the middle of Shinjuku. The story of the return of Ogudomon had immediately spurred Yamaki into action. The news went straight to the PM himself and he agreed straight away. People began to move out with cloths pressed to their faces. Half of them were convinced that they were being choked by the gas when in reality they were just pushing the cloths to their faces to hard.

The Tamers had to be extremely careful. If people got word that there was no gas leak they would not be very happy and could start a riot. Therefore, they had to go about their business with cloths to their own faces and on the whole, the digimon kept out of sight. This was alright in Renamon and Terriermon's view. It allowed them to slip off to complete their third night. Lopmon smirked as she watched them leave.

By the next day, the majority of the city was empty, with a few stragglers, such as the parents and siblings of the Tamers. They were gathered in the park and trying to reason with their children. Or at least, Takato's parents were. The others, after a quick word with Janyuu and Yamaki, who was also there, seemed to accept the danger was one that only the children and their partners even could stop it.

"We had better get going as well," said Janyuu eventually, as Mie Matsuki failed spectacularly to convince Takato to come with them. "This Ogudomon that was reported to us may come earlier than expected. The time of his arrival was just an estimate. Suzie. Come on."

"Can I please stay?" whined Suzie. "Lopmon might need me."

"Lopmon will be fine. She's got Henry and Terriermon to look out for her."

"Momentai, Suzie," said Terriermon. "Nothing's gonna happen to Loppy. We'll all be fine. I'll protect her with my life." _As will Renamon._

Renamon smiled, and said aloud, "As will I."

Suzie looked reassured but still not happy. "Please, Suzie, have faith in me," said Lopmon. "Now you go with your father and give me a little boost."

Suzie sighed, and found a card which she turned blue with her mind. "Digi-modify! Matrix digivolution activate!"

"**Lopmon matrix-digivolve to ......... Antylamon!"**

Kazu's and Kenta's parents still had not seen the digivolution process before and the gaped in amazement and slight fear as Lopmon grew much taller, until she was taller than any of the trees in the park. Antylamon bent down and nudged her Tamer with one massive finger.

"It's dangerous here, Suzie," she said. "Go on. We'll be fine."

Suzie nodded and tried not to cry as she stumbled over and took her father's hand. Janyuu looked down at her and began to steer her towards the edge of the city, where those people who couldn't find a place to stay at such short notice had set up a sort of refugee camp within sight of the city.

"Goodbye, my baby," said Mie, before hugging Takato and setting off after the Wongs, head bowed, followed by most of the of the others.

"Good luck guys," said Kazu. "Take care of yourself, Guardromon."

"Will do, BlackWarKazumon," replied Guardromon, as Kazu gave him the best hug he could.

"You too, MarineAngemon," said Kenta to the tiny Mega in his hands. "Give that Ogudomon a pounding from me."

"Kidoke," came his answer.

"We'll play again soon, right," said Calumon.

"You betcha," nodded Guilmon, waving sadly as they began to leave.

"Bye, Impmon," said Ai and Mako simultaneously.

"See ya soon," smiled Impmon.

"Takato," said Jeri, stuttering slightly. "I just wanted to say...er...um..."

"What?" asked Takato.

"Well...er...you see...er...it's just that...um..."

_They'll be doing this for hours,_ moaned Terriermon. _Just get on with it! Are you that dense, Takato? It's staring you in the face. She fancies you. Always has._

_You're ruining the moment,_ thought Renamon.

_Only to you._

"...Never mind," said Jeri.

_AARGH! That's it!_

"Oh okay," said Takato. "Well, see you s...mmph!"

Terriermon had sprang forward, and Renamon, knowing what he was about to do, leapt after him. Terriermon landed forcefully, but not too hard, on Jeri's shoulder-blades, causing her to stumble forwards. Renamon, using her considerable agility, front-flipped over all three of them, did a one-eighty and grabbed Takato by the shoulders to steady him so he didn't fall flat on his face when Jeri's face was suddenly pressed to his.

Terriermon fell about laughing, as did Impmon, while the others looked on with a mixture of amusement and bemusement. Once Takato pulled his face from Jeri's he glared reprovingly at Terriermon. "What?" demanded the bunny. "Don't tell me you didn't want that."

Takato went a deep scarlet.

"Um, well, bye," said Jeri, also red, as she turned to leave. Those that were leaving had gone. Apart from a few rag tags still behind, Takato, Henry, Rika and Ryo were the only humans left in the city.

"We may as well get some rest," said Ryo. "Conserve our energy. We may need it against this guy."

"That's if he even shows," said Takato.

"He will."

Everyone turned to the speaker. Impmon. "I can feel it. I didn't even notice until that tiger guy said it, but I know he's coming too. Hmm, guess I am that Beelzemon." He gritted his teeth and shuffled his right foot agitatedly.

"That is past," said Antylamon. "And you do not remember anything of it. You have changed Impmon. Let's leave it at that."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Momentai, Impmon. You can show you've changed by kicking your old buddy to the curb."

"Yeah, I will," Impmon now looked very determined, clenching a gloved fist and shaking it at the sky as if Ogudomon was there to see it. "You hear that! I'm not gonna show you any mercy, just like you wouldn't show to any of us!"

"All right then, let's head back to my place," said Takato. "We can get food there without stealing it."

"BREAD!" yelled Guilmon, dashing ahead of the group, followed by Terriermon. Antylamon looked down at herself and said, "Someone's going to have to pass some food through the door for me."

* * *

Night rolled in, and Renamon remained awake. She watched as one by one, the others drifted off to sleep, having feasted on bread. Her mate went with them into their dreaming state, or tried, and no doubt, he would have if Renamon had not kept him awake with her foot.

At quarter to midnight, she prodded Terriermon, and he yawned and nodded. Without a word, they got up and headed for the door.

"Where are you two going?"

Renamon and Terriermon both swore in their minds. Damn it! How could they forget the fact that Guardromon did not need sleep? The robot had merely had his back turned and then had heard them making for the exit.

"We are merely going to go on a patrol," said Renamon. "I am restless and wish to make sure there are no stray humans still in the city."

"And you're taking Terriermon?" The robot would have raised an eyebrow if he'd had any but as it was, one eye narrowed and the other got slightly wider.

"Would you be convinced if I said yes?" said Terriermon.

"Probably not, no."

"Then I'll say yes anyway and hope for the best."

"Where are you really going?"

Renamon could see that Guardromon was not going to leave this alone, so she merely said, "To complete a ritual that came into process during the time we were both kidnapped."

"Ritual?" asked Guardromon. "What kind of ritual?"

"She means," said Terriermon. "That we're going to mate. Again."

Whatever Guardromon had been expecting, it had not been that. He was already sitting on the floor, so he threw his arms out behind him to catch himself and both his eyes widened. "That was not very subtle, Terriermon."

There was a growling noise. They had woken up Cyberdramon. "What's happening?"

"They're going out to mate apparently," said Guardromon. "Can you believe it?"

Cyberdramon shrugged. "I'm trying to sleep. Don't bother me with things I already know."

Guardromon blinked. "You knew about this already?"

"He was the first to find out," said another voice. Antylamon, who had been sleeping against the building nearby had also awoken thanks to her keen hearing.

"You too?"

"I was the second to find out," smiled Antylamon. "And you are the third."

"Well..." murmured Guardromon. "I must say this a particularly unforeseen turn of events."

"We've been doing it since the night we got back, Guardromon," said Terriermon. "It's not a new development."

"You still haven't told me the full extent of what is actually going on between you," said Antylamon. "I know you're mated, but I still don't know how that came about."

"And I always thought you'd go for Lopmon," said Guardromon.

"Does everyone think that?" asked Terriermon.

"You have to admit that when I'm a Rookie we do look alike," said Antylamon. "I suppose it stems from that."

"If you don't mind," said Renamon. "I would like to get this done today." She picked up Terriermon and vanished in a blur.

"Is anyone going to explain what is happening?" asked Guardromon. He looked to Cyberdramon but the dragon had already gone back to sleep. So he went outside to Antylamon.

"This is as much as I know..." she started.

* * *

One hour later, Terriermon stumbled groggily out of Guilmon's hideout, with Renamon behind him. "It's over," she said. "The ritual is complete."

"You gonna tell me the full extent of the ritual?" said Terriermon.

"It's a special one. Night one is where the bond develops and being my mate begins. Night two is a smoothener, if that's a word..."

"It isn't."

"Well, anyway... it smoothens out the hormones within us and we settle down a little. Night three is the first eliminator. It means that if I go through a forced mating with another we would not become partners. The final night is the second eliminator. It eliminates the food role so I can now take my meals with others."

"Cool," said Terriermon. "I..."

There was a sound like a snapping twig and Terriermon's ears twitched. So did Renamon's. They had both heard it.

"Damn it," said a voice. A voice so horribly familiar that the hair all across their bodies stood on end and their faces went into deep scowls.

"Get out here where we can see you, bastard!" called Terriermon.

Down the path, several human figures emerged from the bushes, and several more from the bushes on the opposite side. At their head was a tall, brown-haired man with a sick, twisted expression.

Goro.

"Well, I'd have preferred to have caught the two of you by surprise," he drawled. "But this way is just as well."

"You are not going to subdue us a second time," said Renamon. "We're prepared for you now, and we know what your henchmen are carrying." For indeed there were at least twenty henchmen surrounding the two Rookies.

"You think you can take us?" asked Terriermon. "You took us by surprise last time and out defences were down. Not this time, furfag!"

"Still with the name calling," smiled Goro.

"How did you escape anyway?" asked Renamon. "You were only jailed for a few days."

"I managed to transmit a signal to my henchmen here," Goro gestured to all of the men around them. "When they were evacuating the prison they manage to bust into the line and get me out of there. And now I have returned. I have come to make the fox mine."

"You're too late, Goro," said Renamon. "I have just completed a mating ritual with Terriermon here. There's no way I can ever be yours now."

Goro's eyes widened and his nostrils flared. "Get them!" he roared. "Subdue the fox and kill the rabbit!"

_You go left, I'll go right,_ said Renamon.

_Yep._

The men fired a mixture of bullets and gallium compound. Terriermon and Renamon separated and rebounded of trees, flying into the air.

"BUNNY BLAST!"

"DIAMOND STORM!"

Green pellets of energy peppered the men on the left and sharp diamonds cut into the men on the right. Goro ducked as the man behind him was cut down by the hail of shards. "GET THEM! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE! DOUBLE PAY TO THE ONE WHO TAKES THEM DOWN!"

Renamon and Terriermon ignored him. They were communicating in their minds, making up a plan on the spot. Renamon landed in the middle of the battlefield and caught the gliding rabbit by one ear, spinning around a couple of times and launching him at Goro's men.

"TERRIER TORNADO!" cried Terriermon and he span at high speed and mowed down some of the now slightly panicked men as easily as grass.

"POWER PAW!" Renamon darted forward and belted another in the chest, sending him back into a further two.

The battle progressed as the men began to fall in twos and threes, bruised and battered, barrelled into by Terriermon or pierced by white diamonds from Renamon, until only Goro stood standing with two men behind him.

"GET THEM! KILL HIM!" he yelped as Renamon moved towards them. One fired a bullet at Terriermon, who dodged. The other fired a glob of stuff at Renamon, who back-flipped into the air and the glob went sailing under her. She landed smoothly by Guilmon's hideout, when suddenly another glob came sailing at her and pinned one arm to the wall. This one hard been fired by Goro himself.

"RENA!" cried Terriermon and he charged forwards, as Goro fired another glob which caught Renamon's other arms and secured that in place, on the same side of her body as the other one. Terriermon sailed at the men and landed on their shoulders, then grabbed a head in each ear and smashed them together with a strength that he didn't look capable of producing.

As the henchmen fell with a yelp to the floor, Terriermon was suddenly hit in the back of his own head by the handle of a gun. His head stung and his spine tingled. He hit the ground and rolled, but a heavy boot came down on one ear and he yelped in pain.

"TERRIERMON!" roared Renamon from her position by the wall, as she attempted to tear through the compound with the claws on her feet.

"Hmm," said Goro. "I knew I shouldn't have relied on henchmen. After all, it seems it was me who recaptured the foxy girl-" Terriermon snarled "-And now, I'm going to kill you. Normally I'd make the death quite slow, but I think I'd just like the get you out of the way really."

"Fine then," said Terriermon. "Do it. Kill me."

"Terriermon?" asked Renamon. "Don't."

"Momentai Rena," he said. "I'm not gonna die. He doesn't have the guts."

"Oh, don't I?" Goro cocked the gun. "Any last words? Oh, just for the record, I'm going after your human children after this. Should be easy enough to dispatch them in their sleep."

"I'll kill you!"

"You're powerless. I am victorious over you."

"You're just a coward, but I should thank you."

Both Goro and Renamon stared at him. "What do you mean by that?" asked Goro.

Terriermon didn't answer him, but instead looked around his legs. "I think you've heard enough, don't you think."

"Yes," said another voice. "I have. SAMURAI TIGER TAIL!"

Goro whirled around just in time to see a segmented, metal, striped tail swinging at his head like a thrown nunchuk. Terriermon and Renamon shut their eyes as Goro's skull was caved in by the tiger Deva's attack. Goro's body dropped without a sound and Mihiramon stood over him.

"Azulongmon is wrong," said Mihiramon. "To some extent. It appears not all humans are as innocent as he believes them to be."

"Thanks, big guy," said Terriermon, removing Goro's fallen boot from his ear. "I owe you one."

"We both do," said Renamon.

"So, it was you two who were doing the rutting in the building, am I right?" asked the tiger.

"Yes, you are," said Renamon. "And a little help here would be appreciated."

Mihiramon approached her and tore through the gallium compound with one slow swipe. Renamon began to carefully peel the rest of it off her gloves in a way that someone would handle something contaminated.

"Did you bring back the help you promised?" she asked him.

"It's on it's way. I am an advance digimon to tell you of its imminent arrival. They should be here in a while."

"Who's coming?" asked Renamon.

"Now, that would ruin the surprise," said Terriermon.

"One surprise was enough," muttered Renamon darkly.

"Where are the others?" asked Mihiramon.

"Back at the bakery," said Terriermon. "Let's go."

"What is a bakery?"

"You'll find out in a minute. And trust me, you will love it."

* * *

Well, that's the end of Goro. I didn't think he'd actually make an appearance again, but I decided I would not be satisfied until he met his end. And it gave Mihiramon a chance to win their friendship.

* * *

Next time...

Who is coming to help? Will Ogudomon show up? And most importantly, how will everyone else react to finding out about Renamon and Terriermon.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 11:- The Great Revelation**


	12. The Great Revelation

Wow, I'd like to seriously thank two people at the moment – well, three if I read the e-mail correctly. The first is Lord Pata, who gave his view on this fanfic and he liked it. Blimey. So thanks to you and to your anonymous friend you mentioned. The other is Rainbow35 who helped me out with a difficult decision for this chapter by nullifying the need for a decision at all. So cheers to the two, three, of you.

Okay, this is the big one – the chapter where Henry and Rika and the others finally find out. I hope it satisfies everyone, but since I know you've been waiting for this, I'm going to shut up now and get on with it.

* * *

**A Sticky Situation**

**Chapter 12:- The Lord Of Darkness**

* * *

Antylamon and Guardromon were still standing outside the bakery when Terriermon and Renamon returned with Mihiramon in tow. Both of them were quite surprised to see the Deva and nodded respectfully at him.

"Antylamon," said Mihiramon. "You've returned to your ultimate form, I see."

"I sent my Tamer away so she would not be harmed," said Antylamon. "She had to digivolve me early."

"I see," said Mihiramon. "So, is this the bakery? What is that smell?"

"That, my friend," said Terriermon. "Is the smell of day-old bread. It's great."

"Bread? What is bread?"

"It is a food," said Antylamon. "A speciality of the family of one of the Tamers, the one with the goggles – Takato."

"The dinosaur's partner," said Mihiramon. "Alright then. Let me try some of this ... bread."

"You are too big to fit through the door," said Renamon. "I'll go and bring some out." The fox walked through the door. Most of the people inside were still sleeping – after all it was only about one-thirty in the morning. Renamon gathered up a little of what bread there was left in the bakery after the feast last night and took it outside.

Mihiramon sniffed it. "It does smell appetising," he concluded, before taking a whole loaf into his mouth and chewing it. His face lit up. "Wow." That was all he said. Renamon placed the rest on the floor and the tiger Deva hunched down and picked them up and swallowed them.

"So... er... how'd it go?" asked Guardromon. "Did you complete this ritual of yours?"

"Yes, we, did," said Renamon, savouring the three words. It had finally happened. She was not only mated, but she had seen to it that she would be mated with no-one else but Terriermon. The bunny grinned.

"So why is Mihiramon with you?" smirked Antylamon. "You didn't let him take part did you?"

"NO!" yelled both Terriermon and Renamon loudly, while Mihiramon choked slightly on his mouthful. A little too loudly. Inside the bakery, a couple of the others heard the shout and woke with slight snorts, namely Takato, Ryo and Impmon.

"Are we under attack?" asked Takato. He saw Mihiramon outside and scowled, dashing through the door. "I knew it!" he yelled. "I knew you couldn't be trusted! I – awp!"

His sentence was cut short because Renamon had suddenly brought her paw over his mouth, almost knocking him off his feet. "Takato," she said. "You're leaping to conclusions. You don't even know the whole story. Be careful. Mihiramon has done nothing bad. In fact, quite the opposite."

She removed her paw from his mouth and he stood, reddening a little and mumbling, "How do you mean?"

"I would rather wait until everyone else is awake before I tell this story."

"Uh, Renamon," said Terriermon. "Everyone else _is_ awake. Thanks to Takato."

They turned. Indeed the others were emerging from the bakery with many scowls on their faces and rubbing their eyes, yawning widely. "Why were you making so much noise, Takatomon?" asked Guilmon, stretching his back by dropping to all fours and sticking his tail in the air.

"No reason," said Takato, laughing nervously, as he often did when trying to get himself out of the corners he usually put himself in.

"You thought Mihiramon was attacking us, didn't you, Gogglehead," smirked Rika, in a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"Er, yeah," Takato grinned sheepishly and scuffed the ground with one trainer.

As Impmon began to berate him, Renamon turned to Terriermon. _Well, I guess that now is as good a time as any._

_Yeah,_ her mate said back, _I'd rather do it before the rest of whoever is coming to help us gets here._

_Any particular reason?_

_No, but I think that the audience we have is going to be big enough as it is._

_Wise thinking._

_It is? I'm getting somewhere at last. I should start taking lessons from Henry and his sensei._

_I'd prefer it if you stayed goofy and, well, Terriermon-y._

_Aaw. Thanks._

Renamon took a shaky breath. She was feeling extremely nervous. More nervous than she'd ever really felt before. She wasn't sure how Rika would react to this sort of thing. So she was very relieved when Terriermon suddenly took charge.

"Right then, you," said Terriermon, pointing a tiny finger on his hand and a larger finger on his ear at Cyberdramon, "know what I am about to tell everyone else."

Cyberdramon didn't say anything. He just stared at Mihiramon. Terriermon wondered if the dragon had even heard him, but the others certainly had and were now watching him with interest, as he said, "but the rest of you don't. So, here it is."

There was a slight pause as Terriermon bit his lip, wandering how he was going to put this. He decided to start at the beginning and said, "You know that man Goro had kidnapped us and held us for three days straight but there is ... slightly more to it than that."

"Wait," said Henry. "Why are you telling us this now?"

"That will become clear," said Renamon. "Let him continue."

"The truth is that he was, er, more of a bastard than you might think. He was a... well... er... he was..., urgh this is hard."

"He was a would-be rapist," said Renamon, outwardly maintaining her expression of calm focus but inwardly, she was a frenzy of activity. Her heart was going like mad. "And his target was me."

A stunned silence followed, before several cries of "WHAT!" issued from the mouths of all humans and digimon present, except Mihiramon, who was watching Cyberdramon warily, and Cyberdramon, who was doing the exact opposite.

"Rapist. The guy raped you?" bellowed Rika.

"Me kill!" glowered MarineAngemon.

"I couldn't agree more," Antylamon's hands switched into their double-bladed axe form and she had a murderous look about her.

"No," said Renamon. "I said, "would-be." He tried to get to me. I was helpless, tied to a post in the centre of the room. I felt so powerless... But he never reached me, thanks to Terriermon."

"What was I supposed to do? Let him?" Terriermon grinned a little bashfully and held an ear in front of his face.

And that was why he didn't see Rika walking towards him until she had picked him up. And he was enveloped in the first hug he had ever received from any human female besides Suzie's death-grips.

"Thank you," said Rika. "Thank you for protecting my partner."

"Please, you'll make my head swell," smiled Terriermon. "I wasn't about to let that happen to her."

Rika stopped hugging him and smiled at the rabbit. A genuine smile. Then she set him down and turned to Renamon. "I don't blame you, Renamon, for not sharing that information with me."

"I am glad you understand," said Renamon. "That human caught us by surprise with the gallium compound and then used knock-out gas on me. I woke up with rope around my wrists and ankles. Rope that I couldn't break. I am sorry."

"Don't be," said Rika. "I'm just glad you got out of it okay."

"You have Terriermon and Isis the jackal to thank for that."

"Oh, I do."

"Luckily the guy didn't know about my Bunny Blast attack," said Terriermon. "Or I would not have been able to keep him away. I was restrained like Renamon, but not with rope. I was, er, pinned by more of the gallium stuff."

"So that's why you said your muscles hurt like hell," said Henry. "You were stuck in the same position for three days."

"Ouch," said Ryo. "You are a lot tougher than you look, Terriermon."

"Momentai," said Terriermon. "But the most embarrassing thing is that ... um... I wasn't pinned to a wall. Or to a post. Or to anything like that."

"Then what were you pinned to?" asked Guilmon.

Terriermon mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?" asked Takato.

"I said...I was pinned to Renamon. Pinned to her chest actually." He flushed and waited for the response.

Naturally, Impmon laughed. "Wow, that has got to be an experience." Renamon scowled.

"It wasn't pleasant," said Renamon. "Don't forget the two of us hated each other for a while in there."

"EEEHH!" Terriermon had made the noise of a buzzer in a game show declaring a wrong answer.

"Well, no, I hated Terriermon, but he claims he didn't hate me."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Antylamon. "He's not that kind of 'mon."

"Well at least you got that off your chest right?" quipped Terriermon. Renamon chuckled.

"I don't get it," said Guilmon. Takato rolled his eyes.

"There is more," said Renamon solemnly, her head bowed and refusing to look Rika in the eye. "I am sorry, Rika, that you were not the first to find out about what I am about to say. Ideally," here she scowled at Cyberdramon who ignored her, "You would have been, but you were not."

"The same goes for you Henry," said Terriermon. "You're my Tamer and I would have wanted to have told you before anyone, even Loppy, who managed to find out on her own." He looked up at the face of Antylamon high above, which was wearing a smirk. Antylamon winked at him.

"Find out about what?" asked Henry, bemused.

"Renamon's got that ominous look about her," said Impmon. "You gonna spill the beans?"

Renamon remained silent for a few seconds, before looking at Terriermon. He too, looked nervous and showed no signs of wanting to start. He looked up at her and said, "Perhaps you should tell them. They might not take me seriously."

Everyone was looking expectantly at Renamon. They were on tenterhooks. "All right," she sighed. "Cyberdramon, Antylamon and Guardromon all know about this already. They found out through reasoning, a mistake on our part and... the magic of sight," Renamon scowled at Cyberdramon again, but he remained as impervious to it as ever. "But the fact is..." She trailed off.

"Yes?" Rika asked with bated breath.

Renamon glanced at Terriermon again. "Momentai," he said softly.

And that one word seemed to swell something inside of her. Why should she be nervous? She was mated. What did it matter who it was with? She and Terriermon would always be together, whether or not the others liked it. They had made sure of it.

She said it. She finally said it:-

"Terriermon and I have been mated."

There was approximately five seconds of total silence. Of wide eyes and open mouths. Then several things happened at once.

Takato fainted.

Impmon belted out with a barrage of laughter.

Ryo looked accusingly at Cyberdramon as if the dragon had betrayed him in some way.

MarineAngemon whooped and began doing sweeping circles around the two.

Guilmon looked bemused and half-heartedly attempted to copy his Tamer, unsure of what was actually going on.

Antylamon leaned on a building, smirking. Guardromon seemed to somehow smile with his eyes and Cyberdramon looked bored.

But as for Henry and Rika, they just stared. They stared and they stared and they kept of staring, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, limp limbs. They were shocked. Shocked to the core.

Renamon watched anxiously, as did Terriermon as their Tamers looked searchingly into the eyes of their own partner, searching deeply for any hint of a joke. There was none. Terriermon stared back at his Tamer, determined to prove that he had nothing to hide anymore.

It was Henry who spoke first. He stumbled a little and had to grab Ryo for support. "When?"

"The very night we got back from our kidnapping," said Renamon. "You see, during the whole thing, I began to feel steadily less and less hatred for Terriermon, until the emotion changed completely. He was protecting me. He was doing his best not to annoy me. He was trying and succeeding to keep me going."

"And you chose him to be your mate?" asked Rika, her throat dry, her voice quiet.

"Yes, I did," said Renamon. "And if I had the opportunity to go back and change it then I wouldn't change one thing that's happened since."

"How did this come about?" asked Henry. "And why didn't you tell me sooner, Terriermon?"

"Momentai, Henry," said Terriermon, but he was not smiling, he was looking deadly serious. "Renamon would be better at explaining it than I am."

Renamon nodded and began speaking of the Renamon ritual rules. The others all began to listen with interest, even Mihiramon, who had taken no part in this exchange. Renamon told of the rule of eating and mating and how they had left it until the ritual was complete and the effects of eating nullified by the final night.

"So, that's why Monodramon started playing that song," said Rika.

"What song?" asked Impmon. He was ignored.

"Yes," said Renamon. "But Rika, I have said it all. I have explained all of your unanswered questions and now I want your own opinion. Terriermon and I will be mates for life. Please, what are your thoughts?"

Rika was silent. Then she turned to Terriermon. "Do you promise to never hurt her feelings and to always stay by her side?"

"Never intentionally and if she'll let me," said Terriermon.

"And you won't use her as a playtoy, like that _Goro_," she spat the name, "tried to do."

"I am not like that, Rika," said Terriermon. "Anything like intercourse is done strictly with her permission and on her terms. Has been over the last few nights."

Rika stared at him, then looked back at Renamon. Then she smiled. "Congratulations, Renamon. You practically found a soul-mate. And Terriermon too. Who'd have thought?"

"You don't mind?" asked Renamon, her face lighting up.

"No, not at all," Rika began to smile wider. "I think it's great. Well done, you. Come here." She spread her arms wide. Renamon leapt forward and gratefully hugged her Tamer.

"Thank you, Rika," she said.

"And what about you, Henry?" asked Terriermon.

Henry blinked a couple of times, and said, "I thought you'd go for Lopmon."

"If another person says that..." said Terriermon through gritted teeth.

"We do have a bond," said Antylamon. "But it's more of a brother to sister thing."

"Yeah, Henry, come on," grinned Terriermon. "I mean, helllooo? Weren't you listening to Lopmon the other day when she was talking to Mihiramon."

Henry smiled. "Well, you're still the same old Terriermon. You have my blessing."

"Just like that?" asked Terriermon. "You're not gonna ask Renamon if she'll stand by me and all that?"

"To be honest," winked Henry, "I agree with Rika. She asked _you_ those questions."

"Hey!"

"Momentai."

"Aargh. You have no faith in me!"

"Yes, I do. Come on," Henry patted his shoulder. With a flap and a bound, Terriermon took up his usual position there, beaming happily.

"You guys took that a lot better than I was expecting," he said. "I was half expecting the cricket bats to come out and for the two of you to go a-thwacking."

"Not my style," said Henry.

"There was a time where that would have been my style," said Rika. "But not anymore."

"Besides, Terriermon," said Renamon. "I got my death threat from Lopmon."

"I wasn't being entirely serious," said Antylamon. "I got that fish phrase from a film that Suzie made me watch. It was called "The Grinch.""

"The Grinch? It's months until Christmas."

"What is Christmas?" asked Mihiramon suddenly.

"The best Human World celebration ever," said Terriermon. "But I wasn't allowed to be alive at the last one I was at. I was still pretending to be a doll then."

"Oh, one more thing," said Renamon. "The connection between Terriermon and I is similar to my connection with you Rika. I can speak telepathically with him now. But I cannot hide anything from him. It's a mating rule of ours, so that we cannot keep secrets anymore."

"Really?" Rika had a slight evil grin on her face. "So then, what dirt do you have on your mate for me?"

"Hey!" yelled Terriermon. "No fair."

"Well," said Renamon with a smirk. "There's the time that Suzie, when she though he was a doll, wanted to play doctor and shoved a thermometer up his..."

"STOP TALKING NOW!" yelled Terriermon, and almost everyone laughed.

Takato blearily opened his eyes. "Why'd you go all funny, Takato?" asked Guilmon.

"I had the weirdest dream," he said. "I dreamed that Renamon was mated to Terriermon."

"It's no dream, Gogglehead," said Rika. Takato blinked and passed out again.

"So, Terriermon," called Impmon. "What was it like?"

"Is everyone going to ask me that question?" asked Terriermon.

"Of course."

"Brilliant. Fifteen times better than biomerging."

Suddenly Cyberdramon chipped in. "It must get better each time them. You told me it felt ten times as good two nights ago."

"Oh, believe me it does," said Terriermon.

"Well, at least he did it on my terms," said Renamon. "Unlike Goro would have."

The atmosphere immediately turned sour. There was a flash of light. Impmon had digivolved into Beelzemon Blast Mode. The cannon on his arm opened and the pink energy sparked within. "Point me in the right direction and I'll go blow him to smithereens."

"You're too late, Beelzemon," said Renamon with immense satisfaction. "Goro had escaped and tried to jump us earlier, with the intent to re-capture me and kill Terriermon."

More gasps. "What happened?" asked Beelzemon.

"He would have managed to pull it off had it not been for Mihiramon," she replied. "He came in and saved us."

"Is he dead?" asked Ryo. Cyberdramon growled.

"Does a human die when you crush their skull to a pulp?" asked Mihiramon.

"Yes," said Henry.

"Then he is very, very dead."

"That's a silly sentence," said Terriermon. "You can't be very dead. You're either dead or you aren't. There are no varying degrees of death."

The atmosphere lightened once again, Beelzemon de-digivolved, and nobody, with the exception of Takato, who was still stretched across the floor, had any intention of going back to sleep. They just wanted to have fun and a game of tag began, just as it had that time several days ago when Renamon and Terriermon had returned. Only Antylamon and Mihiramon remained exempt and they began to talk to each other. Cyberdramon de-digivolved into Monodramon and slunk off to retrieve something.

Suddenly Impmon stopped and keeled over, heaving for breath. The game instantly stopped and everyone turned to look at him in concern.

"Are you alright?" asked Henry in concern.

Impmon stared up at them all with baleful eyes. "He's out," he said.

* * *

"He's out," said Azulongmon.

"Yes, we know," said Zhuqiaomon a little frostily. "We all felt it."

"Naw nade ter git snotty about it Mr. Bitter O'Grumble," said Irish-Ebonwumon.

"Stop calling me names," said Zhuqiaomon. "There are other more important things to be discussed."

"Zhuqiaomon is right. The Human World may be in grave peril."

"That wasn't what I meant Azulongmon. The humans have their help sent from us and as much as I loathe the idea of even entering that world myself, we have already decided that that is what we would do."

"How close are the party from getting to the human world?" growled Baihumon.

"They're getting very close now. I fact they should arrive within about an hour," said Azulongmon.

"Let's hiner they gie thaur in time," said Scottish-Ebonwumon.

"They will," said Azulongmon. "But I am concerned for the Digital World right now. Have the villages been warned?"

"The remaining Devas have finished their duties," said Zhuqiaomon. "Every village has been warned of the potential danger that Ogudomon could bring and all have prepared themselves to flee at a moment's notice."

"Good," said Azulongmon. "Now let us spread out and search for Ogudomon. Hopefully we can find him and re-imprison him before he causes too much damage."

"I still say that Fanglongmon should have told us the location of his prison," said Zhuqiaomon.

"We can't question him though," said Baihumon. "Not until that prophecy unfolds."

"But de prophecy doesn't make any sense," said Irish-Ebonwumon.

"Yeh, we'll jist hae tae be patient," said Scottish-Ebonwumon, as the double headed turtle turned to move away and try to find and locate the Super Demon lord, that had once been Leviamon and Barbamon. The other Sovereigns turned to follow his example and they dashed, thundered or soared away.

* * *

"He's out?" asked Mihiramon, getting to his feet. "This is grave. He could be here within a matter of hours, or it could not be for another day. We have no way of knowing how long it'd take him to get from his prison to here."

"Let's hope the rest of the reinforcements get here soon," said Henry. "We could really use them right about now."

Mihiramon nodded. "Unfortunately I am no psychic and have no way of communicating with them. We just have to hope for the best. They were not far behind me when I came, only a couple of hours. If everything is going according to schedule they should be here within an hour."

"What we do?" asked MarineAngemon.

"There's nothing we can do," said Guardromon. "Nothing but wait. We can't fight this Ogudomon if he's not here and we're as prepared as we're ever going to be. I say we keep doing what we were doing before and have fun until he does."

"Well said," barked Antylamon.

"To that end," said Terriermon. "You're still it, Rika."

"I can't believe you pulled me into this," Rika laughed as she lunged for the bunny and he leapt nimbly aside.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Monodramon had returned.

"Monodramon? I didn't even notice you were gone?" said Ryo. "And why have you de-digivolved?"

"I just wanna have a bit of fun myself," said Monodramon, and he produced a disc-shaped object from behind his back. It was the portable CD player he had embarrassed Renamon and Terriermon with two days ago. "I keep this in the park in a little hidey-hole of mine," he grinned.

"So that's where my CD's have been going," Ryo rolled his eyes. "I never thought it would be you. Cyberdramon isn't into that sort of thing..."

"You're it!" cried Rika, hitting Ryo in the shoulder firmly with her palm.

"Hey! I was distracted. Get back here, princess."

As the game continued, Monodramon, turned on the CD player and switched it to track ten. The song that began to play was from the same group as the previous song had been. He went and joined the game as it started, and Mihiramon watched it with interest.

"My best friend gave me the best advice,  
He said each day's a gift and not a given right,  
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind,  
And try to take the path less travelled by,  
That first step you take is the longest stride.

What if...? What if...?

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late,  
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?  
Would you live each moment like your last?  
Leave old pictures in the past?  
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?

What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life,  
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight,  
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try,  
So live like you're never living twice,  
Don't take the free ride in your own life."

Here the chorus repeated again, only it had another section added to it.

"Would you call old friends you never see?  
Reminisce old memories?  
Would you forgive your enemies?  
Would you find that one your dreaming of?  
Swear up and down to God above,  
That you'd finally fall in love?

And then a section began that made Monodramon stop and began to sway his arms in the air like the audience might do at a concert. One by one, the other digimon stopped and began to do the same thing, even Renamon. With a snort, Takato woke up from his unconsciousness and watched the bizarre scene.

"If today was your last day  
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?  
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars  
Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes  
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life  
Let nothing stand in your way  
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side."

Then the chorus repeated again and the song end. It began to progress into another song about partying and the games began again. It certainly whiled away the hour that they had to wait and after an hour and ten minutes, the digimon all felt a very familiar feeling. There was a tremendous tingling which went down each and every Digital Spine in the area.

"Someone is here," said Mihiramon.

"But is it Ogudomon, or our reinforcements?" asked Ryo.

"There's only one way to find out," said Renamon, indicating the massive Digital Field that had erupted dead-centre in the middle of the park.

"Let's go!" said Impmon and leapt forward. The others all followed him at high speed, Antylamon, Mihiramon and Renamon having to pace themselves to allow the others to keep up with them. I took them a round total of one and a half minutes of running until they reached the edge of the Digital Field.

"It's them," said Mihiramon. "I can sense it."

"So can I," declared Antylamon. "Some of the other Deva brotherhood..... Oh, Mihiramon, that was perhaps not such a good idea."

"It can't be helped, and any of us could have been considered a bad choice," said Mihiramon. "But you're right. These guys may still hold a grudge."

"Don't you?" said a familiar deep-throated voice.

As the field began to dissipate, a large shape began to appear out of the fog. Orange armour covered his torso and his bottom half and head were that of an ox. Two broad-swords were across his back in an X-shape.

"After all, Mihiramon," said Vajramon. "If I recall that dinosaur destroyed you."

"And the fox destroyed you," said Mihiramon. "But I am beginning to agree with the views of Azulongmon, in some ways. I believe, just as Antylamon believes, that the Tamers are not our enemies."

"They may not be our enemies anymore," said another, female voice, and a second four-legged digimon emerged beside Vajramon. This one had the head and body of a sheep, purple armour and a crossbow loaded with three arrows. "But that doesn't mean with have to like it," finished Pajiramon.

"Well, look who it is," said Terriermon. "Howzit, you two. You haven't changed at all since the last time we saw you."

Vajramon snorted. Pajiramon ground her teeth. "If it isn't the little bunny pest."

"Watch what you say, Pajiramon," said Renamon. "You're on our turf now, and you might upset the S-, well, three of the Sovereigns if you attacked us."

"We're a lot stronger than last time," said Guilmon. Surprisingly the dinosaur had not gone feral on them this time. Perhaps it was because he knew they were friendly-ish and were here to help them hold of the massive menace that could be arriving at any time.

"Well, despite your allegiance to these humans," said Pajiramon. "It is good to see you again Antylamon."

"You too, Pajiramon," smirked the giant bunny. "How's life now that you're the only female Deva who still serves the Sovereign?"

"She still regrets your moving out. She told me she misses the little chats you used to have," smirked Vajramon. Pajiramon hit him in the head with her crossbow.

"Really? That's new information," said another, slightly rasping, voice. A very large shape came out of the almost depleted field. When it reared up it was taller than Vajramon. It was all white with a purple hood around his neck, along with a purple belly, and had no legs and a long forked tongue. It was Sandiramon the snake Deva.

The snake leered slightly at the digimon who belonged with partners. "Unlike these two, I do not mind so much with this alliance. If it is what we need to prevail then so be it."

"You always were the wisest of us, Sandiramon," said Antylamon.

"Wise? Him?" asked Impmon.

"Well, that makes sense," said Renamon. "He was the least offensive of all the Devas we faced. It was like he was working things out as he went."

Vajramon growled. "Don't mind him," said Sandiramon. "He just takes it a little too personally when someone disagrees with him."

The rest of the Digital Field dispersed and the Tamers looked up to see two massive serpents. Then they realised that only one was a massive serpent and the other was a digimon with a very long neck.

"Oh, wow," said Takato to the giant serpent. "If people see you here they might panic."

"Why's that?" said the MetalSeadramon, in exactly the same voice as the one from the TV series Takato practically worshipped. "Do I look that forbidding?"

"Well, no, but..." he was elbowed in the ribs by Rika.

"Telling him he's a bad guy might not go down so well you idiot," she hissed at him through the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, yeah, right," Takato murmured back.

"So this is the human world," said the other large digimon with the long neck. It was the Plesiomon they had seen briefly before they'd left. His voice was slightly flat and reptilian. "It looks horrible. All these buildings make the place look cramped."

"Oh, I agree," shouted Henry up at him. "But not all of earth looks like this. You should visit some of the places."

"Whoa, Kazu and Kenta would flip out if they saw you guys," said Ryo.

"Flip out? What is this phrase?," said another deep voice. "They'd start doing cartwheels or something?"

"Don't be thick," came a drawling tone. "A human wouldn't do cartwheels if they saw something like that. They'd run away."

"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut, but since you're practically all mouth, just shut up."

"Ugh," said Mihiramon. "Was it wise to bring Gryphonmon with us?"

"Probably not. But he is strong, even if he does fight with himself," said Sandiramon, shaking his massive head. The Tamers stared. The Gryphonmon was very similar to an actual griffin, but his head was helmeted, his body appeared to be slightly tiger-ish and his wings were like those of a bat's instead of an eagle's. But his tail turned green and at the end was a small round head with a huge mouth full of sharp teeth and no other features, not even eyes.

And Gryphonmon was looking over his shoulder and arguing with it.

"How he managed to survive the True Enemy is beyond me," sniffed Pajiramon. "He might not have seen it coming because he was too busy arguing with that stupid tail of his."

"You hear that!" cried the deep-voiced head. "She thinks you're stupid too. Get over it."

"Bah, what does she know," drawled the tail.

Just then there was the sound of clashing staffs. "Speaking of fighting with each other," Mihiramon rolled his eyes. "Three guesses as to who's doing that."

"Don't tell me," Rika smiled. "Jijimon and Babamon."

"Correct in one," said Mihiramon.

"Get you furry feet away from my broom!"

"Don't go where I put them then."

"You two!" called Sandiramon. "Aren't you going to say hello to our hosts?"

"In a minute, I just have to get the whupping on this meddling woman," called the very hairy-faced Jijimon.

"That's a laugh. You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag," Babamon replied, clashing her broom with his – well, stick with a big paw on the end. Staff, everyone supposed.

Their weapons locked and their faces moved together and they stared at each other with eyes that were not visible. "Oh, I know what happens now," said Rika. "Jijimon's going to say "I love you so much." And then they're going to start fighting again."

"The little girlie knows me better than you do," said Jijimon to Babamon.

"Ha, well why don't you go an marry her then," said Babamon.

"'Cause I love you so much."

"Aargh!" cried Vajramon. "They do this every spare minute they can find!"

"MetalSeadramon!" cried Pajiramon. "Break them up!"

"You two are beginning to annoy me!" yelled MetalSeadramon as he brought his two tails down and wrapped each around the waist of one the two combatants and lifted them into the air.

"Hey, put me down ye great worm!" cried Babamon.

"What she said!" yelled Jijimon.

"Very well." MetalSeadramon deposited each of the two into the awaiting hand of the final Mega digimon that had arrived in the human world. It was GranKuwagamon and he clutched the two squirming digimon in his third and fourth hands.

"Now, that's cool," said Takato. "GranKuwagamon came to help us in this fight. He's practically the most uber-digimon who didn't show up in the TV series."

"I thought we said that we wouldn't mention the TV series, Gogglehead," Rika said.

"Hey GranKuwagamon!" called Takato. "How are you?"

GranKuwagamon remained silent. "Was it something I said?" asked Takato.

"I wouldn't try holding a conversation with GranKuwagamon. He's a mysterious digimon at the best of time. He hardly ever speaks, but when he does he usually says something worth listening to," Mihiramon related to Takato.

"Oh," said Takato, slightly put out.

"Let go of me, ye pile of cracked carapace!" struggled Jijimon.

"Yeah, let me go so I can whack him over the head."

"Quiet, woman!"

"Jeez," said Terriermon. "I hope that we don't become like that," he remarked to Renamon.

"We won't," said Renamon. "You'd have to be barmy to do something like that and fortunately I don't fit that category. You, on the other hand..."

"...am the only 'mon for you," interrupted Terriermon, grinning.

"You guys," said Monodramon, nudging Renamon's leg. "They're staring at you."

Terriermon blinked. So did Renamon. For indeed, the eyes of Vajramon, Pajiramon, Sandiramon, MetalSeadramon, Plesiomon, Gryphonmon and GranKuwagamon were all focused in their direction. "What?" demanded Terriermon. "You've never heard of being mated before, or something?"

"Terriermon..." chided Henry.

"Momentai."

"I always thought you'd go for the dinosaur," said Vajramon.

"Even you?" asked Renamon. "Does everyone form an opinion of who they think I'd partner myself with as soon as they meet me?"

"I don't think you want them to answer that question," said Antylamon.

"Males are all the same," nodded Pajiramon. "They just think of these things. I'll never figure them out."

Renamon chuckled. "You know," she said. "I think that I might be able to get on quite well with you."

"So then, do we know when Ogudomon is going to get here, if at all?" asked Sandiramon. "It would be best if we were prepared."

"I think we're as prepared as we're ever going to be," said Henry. "We made sure that everyone who was not going to stay and fight left the city, so that they don't get in the way of Ogudomon and get struck down where they stand."

"Wise decision," said Sandiramon. "What is your name, Tamer?"

"I am Henry, the partner of Terriermon," said Henry.

"Yes, now we're at it, I think we should all introduce ourselves," said Rika. "You guys always thought of us as "The Tamers," before, but now you're working with us. I'm Rika, Renamon's partner."

"I'm Takato. My partner is Guilmon."

"I am Ryo and my partner is Monodramon, who is usually Cyberdramon."

"Last time I saw you Tamers," came the voice of Plesiomon. "I saw that there were at least twice as many of you as there are here. Where are the others?"

"We sent them with the others. They would not be able to fight well as they cannot biomerge yet," said Antylamon.

"Ah yes, this biomerging thing," said Vajramon. "I shall believe it when I see it. Azulongmon is rarely wrong, but this. It just seems too absurd."

"You'll see it soon enough," Terriermon pumped his little fist in the air. "Henry and I even managed to kick Zhuqiaomon's butt."

"No, Terriermon, we merely delayed him for a moment," reminded his Tamer. "Don't get carried away."

"Not that I mean to be rude or anything," piped up Guardromon, "but why you four Devas specifically?"

"The idea was to have at least one Deva under the command of each Sovereign," said Sandiramon. "I now serve under Ebonwumon. I believe Azulongmon was thinking I might curb his silliness a little. I failed in that respect."

"Tell me about it," smiled Ryo. "One of the first things Ebonwumon ever said to me was, "Do you know what it mean when you dream you're riding in a fountain, pouring a glass of juice and going over a waterfall?"

"That turtle has weird dreams every night," muttered Sandiramon. "And each head has a different dream. Now, I believe we should rest and recuperate a little. We have been travelling without a stop for some time. Where is your base of operations?"

There was a slight pause. Then Takato said, "I haven't got enough bread for all of you guys."

* * *

So there you go. Those are the digimon that would be coming along. I thought that they would be the most interesting to do, especially Gryphonmon. Thanks again to Rainbow35. I was debating whether to use Plesiomon or GranKuwagamon and she suggested both. Ah well, they're both interesting characters, though I'll have to look into and develop Plesiomon's a little. GranKuwagamon will mostly be the silent and strong type?

* * *

Next time...

Will the Sovereigns find Ogudomon? Will he turn up in the Human World? How are the other Tamers taking all this? What interesting developments will occur now that all these new Megas and Devas have entered the Human World.

* * *

Coming up... **Chapter 12:- On Edge**


	13. On Edge

Just a short filler chapter here. I didn't want Ogudomon to appear straight after the reinforcements so here it is.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 13:- On Edge**

* * *

"Why is it taking so long?"

"I wanna go home?"

"I'm missing the soccer you know. How am I supposed to function under these conditions?"

"If I didn't know better I'd say there was no gas leak."

"Let me through you assholes. You can't keep us here!"

Yamaki stood before the crowd as they were pushed back by a line of policemen as they struggled to get back into the city. "People, please," he called out. "It's a potential danger zone out there. An explosion could go off at any second. We are merely looking out for your safety here."

"Yeah right! This is obviously some kind of conspiracy," yelled another and there was a slight roar of approval from some of the crowd.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" shouted another man.

"I am Yamaki Mitsuo," said Yamaki. "And that's all that I will say. We are trying to keep you alive here. If you had built your home by an active volcano that was about to blow then why would you go back there? Hmm? It's a similar situation here. You go back there you might as well sign your death warrant. We are waiting for the all-clear."

"But it's been two days! How long does it take to fix a gas leak?" yelled another man and the shouts began again.

Kazu and Kenta watched with growing anxiousness as the line of officers struggled against the mob trying to desperately get back to their houses. "This is so not good," said Kazu. "I almost wish there was an explosion down there just to get these guys to shut up."

"No kidding," said Kenta. "But what if Ogudomon doesn't show?"

"Keep your voice down, Kenta," snapped Kazu. "You want these guys to know the real reason why we're here? Then go ahead. Shout it to the world."

"Sorry," mumbled Kenta.

"You two need to relax a little. Momentai." It was not Terriermon. It was Suzie, who had walked over clutching one of the many dolls she had taken with her and wishing it was Lopmon. "But I hope they hurry up."

"There's no way Ogudomon's gonna rush," said Kazu. "He must have a huge ego since he can only be beaten by the Sovereigns."

"Like you?" grinned Kenta suddenly.

"Watch it, Kenta. I am not above hitting you."

Nearby, Calumon and Jeri were playing pat-a-cake just to keep Calumon's spirits up. Truth be told, Calumon was just as anxious to get back into the city as the people all around him. He wanted to check if all his friends were all right. Ai and Mako watched silently. Then Ai got up and headed for Henry's father, Janyuu. Mako followed.

"Um, mister?" she pulled his sleeve gently.

"Hmm? Yes, what can I do for you?" asked Janyuu.

"Have we heard anything from Impmon and the others?" asked Ai, upset and frightened for the partner that was not there.

"Nothing as of yet," said Janyuu sadly. "But I'm sure they're fine. If this powerful Digimon showed up and battle started, I'm sure we'd know about it from where we are standing right here."

"We're just so worried," said Mako. "He keeps leaving us. He left us once when we had an argument over him and then again after that whole D-Reaper thing-" Janyuu winced here "- and now he's gone again."

"Yes, well this time he is doing it to protect you," said Janyuu. "And he will always come back."

"Really? Are you just saying that?" asked Ai.

"I mean it with every fibre of my being," said Janyuu.

Jeri had overheard the conversation and smiled sadly. Impmon would always come back. But Leomon... She shook herself, forcing herself not to go down that route again. Jeri looked over the crowd straining to get back into the city and after a moment's thought, she pulled out the mobile phone her dad had bought her last month and dialled a number.

* * *

The Matsuki bakery was a mess on both outside and inside. The inside was a mess of grubby marks where there had been a bread feast. The outside was littered with Digimon. MetalSeadramon was wound around a tall nearby apartment complex. Plesiomon was draped across the road. Gryphonmon was perched on the roof of the house and GranKuwagamon stood impassively on the pavement.

Jijimon and Babamon had been momentarily separated to allow them to cool off.

Nearby, Vajramon had taken out his swords and was practicing his stances with them. Renamon watched him as she stood by Pajiramon. Despite the two of them once being mortal enemies, they had actually hit off quite well.

"He does that every single day," said Pajiramon exasperatedly. "He takes it so personally when he loses to someone else. It's because, in terms of muscle to body size, he is the strongest of us and he likes to let us know it."

"Fortunately, we don't have that kind of problem here," said Renamon. "We have no-one vying to be the best, although I won't deny that I once tried to do that. We have other problems, such as constant hunger on the part of Guilmon and constant savagery when it comes to Cyberdramon."

Pajiramon nodded. "We used to have Makuramon as well. He was _so_ annoying."

Renamon chuckled. "I don't doubt it."

"Nobody really liked him," said Antylamon from nearby. "Then there was Kumbhiramon. He had a bigger head that Makuramon. In the metaphorical sense."

"He's back too you know," said Pajiramon.

"Well at least he's not here."

Henry was talking to Sandiramon nearby. "He said that you guys were like clouds."

"Ah, I see what he's getting at there," said the snake. "I would very much like to meet this Sensei of yours. We might get along quite well."

"I'm sure I could arrange it after all this is over."

"Yeah, you guys might become so close you could become partners," said Terriermon.

"Well I wouldn't go that far," said Sandiramon. "Zhuqiaomon might not take it too well if another Deva joined the humans."

"But I thought you served Ebonwumon now."

"I do, but Zhuqiaomon still sees us his servants."

"Ah, I see."

Suddenly Takato's phone rang. All the Mega Digimon and the Devas, except Antylamon, tensed at the noise. They had never heard a mobile phone before, after all. "Momentai," said Terriermon. "Takato's just getting a phone call from his girlfriend."

"Jeri is not my girlfriend," said Takato, slightly angry and ever so slightly wistful.

"You just keep telling yourself that," said Terriermon. "She goes starry-eyed when she sees you, and vice versa. You do the math."

Takato chose to ignore Terriermon and answered the call. "Hello Jeri? How are you?"

"I'm holding up well, Takato," said Jeri. "But we might have a little problem over here in the camp."

"Is it Calumon?" asked Takato.

"No, but I almost wish it was. The people are trying to get back into the city."

"What!" yelped Takato. "Are they nuts?"

"They're insisting that the gas leak must be fixed by now and they want to get back into the houses. We need to find a way to keep them in line. Yamaki has organised the police as a blockade, but it's only a matter of time really."

"Alright," said Takato. "I'll see what I can do."

He hung up and told the others about what was going on. Rika palmed her face. "Well, that's just great," she said. "Some people have no patience." There were several raised eyebrows at that sentence.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," said Takato.

"You think we should tell them about what's really going on?" asked Henry. "Or keep up this facade of the gas leak."

"Well, the gas leak worked to get them out of the city," said Ryo. "But I don't think it's working to keep them out."

"Obviously," said Rika.

"Then unless we tell them another fib, we're gonna have to tell them the truth."

"What is all this about a gas leak?" asked Sandiramon.

"It's a potentially deadly thing that could kill. We told the citizens of this city that there was one so we could get them out quickly and efficiently," Henry explained.

"But a gas leak can be contained, yes?" asked Sandiramon.

"With the right equipment it can," said Henry.

"Well, Ogudomon is far more dangerous than any gas leak," said Henry. "And if we told them that there was a massive Digimon about to attack most of them would run screaming, but the rest might run back towards the city to watch the battle."

Sandiramon blinked. "That is very illogical."

"Why would they do that?" voiced Plesiomon, whose head had just moved towards them on his long neck. "Surely it is better to stay away from a battle unless you're in it."

"Yes, but many people think that Digimon are legends," said Terriermon. "Thanks to the TV show."

"What is a TV show?" asked Plesiomon.

"It's a program that can be watched whenever you want to watch it that shows things that entertain people," said Terriermon brightly. "There's a fictional story in TV show format about some humans and Digimon fighting evil ones. Most of the kids would kill to watch one."

"But they'd die," said Pajiramon. "Humans are not built to survive Digimon attacks."

"I think when they see Ogudomon fighting us they'd run anyway," said Renamon. "They'd get excited but when they saw it happening they'd panic and wish they hadn't come."

"That wouldn't be good," said Guilmon.

"Remember the last time we had this problem?" said Monodramon suddenly. Ryo looked down at him and his partner continued, "At the party by Guilmon's hideout, there were all those kids hanging around, but then I charged in and staged a completely fake fight and they ran screaming."

"That's right," said Henry. "Maybe we could do that again. But who would we send?"

"Let's throw a well-known face at them," cheered Terriermon.

All human eyes and some digimon eyes turned to MetalSeadramon. "I don't get it," said the giant serpent.

"Okay, listen buddy," said Impmon. "Lesson one of Bad Guy style. Laugh evilly and often."

"What?" asked MetalSeadramon.

* * *

Yamaki was really struggling now, as the crowd were beginning to push themselves against the physical barrier that the policemen formed, yelling to be let back to their houses.

"This isn't working, sir," said Riley. "We need to come up with some sort of new cover-story."

"You think we should tell them the truth?" asked Yamaki. "It might be the only way of getting them to stop what they're doing."

"Well, whatever we're going to do, let's do it soon," said Tally, then she sprinted off to snatch up a child that had slipped around the blockade and was doddling towards the town. The policemen couldn't afford to break the lines to go and get him.

"This is getting really bad," said Kenta.

"I wish Lopmon were here. She'd know what to do," said Suzie, stereotypically putting complete faith in her partner.

"Hey, look up there," said Calumon. "It's Beelzemon."

"WHAT!"

The Tamers looked up and true enough, the Demon Lord digimon was sailing towards them from out the sky. Just then, Jeri got her call back from Takato. She answered it and said, "Hello?"

"It's me," said Takato. "We've got a plan, just don't be alarmed if Beelzemon points his gun at you. He's not being serious."

"Pardon."

But Takato had already hung up. Jeri looked up as Beelzemon swooped lower and then hovered above, not even bothering to flap his wings to stay aloft. Human gazes turned to him and gradually the struggling against the policemen stopped and they stared at the Digimon.

"Where are the Tamers?" said Beelzemon in the low growling and menacing voice he used to put on.

"What's he doing?" whispered Kazu incredulously.

"Takato says they have a plan," said Jeri. "Don't tell him where we are."

"What's Impmon doing?" whispered Ai nervously.

"I don't know," Jeri kneeled down and put a comforting hand on the shoulder of Ai and the other on the shoulder of Mako.

"I said, "WHERE ARE THE TAMERS!" yelled Beelzemon. "Bring 'em out so I can blow 'em to smithereens." Pink energy crackled from Berenjena. People were backing away nervously now. Only one or two people had ever seen Beelzemon in his Mega Form and always from an extreme distance. Nobody really knew whether he was a good guy or not.

"Fine," said Beelzemon. "If you won't answer me, you can all die!" He grinned and then he rose his arms into the sky. Behind him, the ground exploded upwards in a shower of large clods of earth and a huge serpent rose into the air behind him, with a very evil laugh. It was exactly the same sort of entrance he had made in the TV show.

Almost every single child in the vicinity knew that this was a bad guy, and so Beelzemon must be too.

"I think it's time for some human fricassee," said MetalSeadramon, a phrase that Terriermon had told him to say. The crowd broke and ran. MetalSeadramon swooped over them, quite low, lower until some of them could touch his head if the raised their arms upwards and then her veered upwards at the last minute.

"Yeah, that's right," shouted Beelzemon. "Run! Run like the idiots you are!"

They gradually watched the crowd as it dispersed. MetalSeadramon and Beelzemon hovered behind them. "That was a strange experience," said MetalSeadramon. "Frightening innocent humans like that. I've never done that before."

"They needed a good shock," said Beelzemon. "You can come out now Pineapple-head."

WarGrowlmon emerged from the hole that MetalSeadramon had made. He had dug a long tunnel from out of sight to allow MetalSeadramon the exploding entrance that the children so loved to watch. "I think it worked."

"No duh," said Beelzemon, looking down at the few people who were still there, namely the other Tamers and HYPNOS staff and some of the parents.

"That was very much appreciated," said Yamaki. "If a little over the top."

"Hey it worked, though," said Beelzemon. "Blame Monodramon. It was his idea. But we think you should probably tell them that that was a demonstration of how terrifying a digimon battle can be and then say the real reason why they were evacuated."

"We've estimated that Ogudomon should arrive within a few hours," said MetalSeadramon. "The humans must not return to their homes for some time yet, unless they wish to suffer a very painful death involving shattering bones."

"This is so cool," said Kazu. "You're MetalSeadramon. I'm talking to MetalSeadramon. You always were my favourite Dark Master."

"No he wasn't," said Kenta. "You always liked Machinedramon better."

"Can it, Kenta," said Kazu. Jeri giggled.

"About that," said MetalSeadramon. "Why did you choose me to be a bad guy in this...TV show of yours?"

"Back then humans didn't know very much about Digimon," said Beelzemon. "Anything that looks big and scary or freaky went on the bad gut list, except a select few. Unfortunately, you weren't one of them."

MetalSeadramon snorted.

"Beelzemon!" called Suzie. "Is Lopmon okay?"

"She's fine. She's getting reacquainted with some of her old Deva buddies. The snake, the ox and the sheep turned up as well as the tiger."

"How's everyone else holding up?" asked Kenta.

Beelzemon paused, and then looked to WarGrowlmon. "Should we tell them?"

WarGrowlmon shook his head. "if anyone should tell them, it should be those two. Besides, three of them are a bit young."

"Good point."

"What?" Kenta was confused.

"Never mind," said Beelzemon.

"Come on, guys," said WarGrowlmon. "We'd better get back now. Takato will be wondering where we are?"

"Always about Takato," muttered Beelzemon, not loud enough for WarGrowlmon to hear him. Then he called out, "Should see you again by the end of the day guys. Ai. Mako. Stay out of trouble."

"Bye, Impmon!" they cried together. Beelzemon rolled his eyes. All three of them.

"Guys, when I'm in this form, my name is Beelzemon. I'm only Impmon when I'm small and purple."

"Oh yeah," said Mako. "Bye Beelzemon."

"See ya. I'll be back," Beelzemon back-flipped through the air and set off back in the direction of the city, followed by the Ultimate and the sea-serpent.

"I can't wait to see the look on Vajramon's face when I tell him how it went," said MetalSeadramon. "He still doesn't like you humans. Mind you, he doesn't like anybody until they've proven themselves as allies."

"Stubborn as an ox," quipped Beelzemon.

"That's Terriermon's line," said WarGrowlmon.

And as they left, another pair of eyes that they'd previously missed watched them go. One human had not fled with the others, but had merely hid from sight and watched the three Digimon sail away. Her blond hair waved slightly in the wind and she sadly fumbled with her black dress. She sighed.

Alice had never really gotten over Dobermon.

* * *

"A complete success," said Beelzemon, de-digivolving into Impmon. WarGrowlmon landed and reverted back to Guilmon as well. MetalSeadramon curled around his building.

"I should take a close look at this TV show thing of yours," he said.

"It doesn't paint you in a good light," said Henry.

"Yeah but MetalSeadramon always was the most merciful of the Dark Masters I think," said Terriermon. "When that Scorpiomon failed him, he merely dropped him from a great height. When the other Dark Masters got failed, they destroyed their subordinates."

And thus they began to while away the time again, and it eventually settled into a competition between partner Digimon and other Digimon, to see which of them could recount a better tale about their fights with the D-Reaper. After all, they had all been fighting the same enemy at the time, just in two different worlds. The Tamer Digimon won out in terms of adventure, but the new Digimon won out with tales of tragedy and the deaths of the other Megas, the three Diaboromon, Hououmon, Boltmon and Machinedramon.

Eventually, as Impmon was vividly describing himself punching the Kernel Sphere, every single digimon there felt a massive tingling going down their spine – Guilmon began to scratch himself. Then a truly enormous beam of light lanced down from the sky and a Digital Field emerged, right at the bottom of the HYPNOS towers.

"That's gotta be him," said Ryo. "Come on."

They ran, or flew, or rode towards the Digital Field, the biggest that they had ever seen. It was almost half the height of the HYPNOS towers and rose higher than most of the other buildings in the vicinity. The company stopped many blocks down a straight road and watched as the Digital Field dissipated to reveal a great, monstrous shape.

Ogudomon had arrived.

* * *

Well, it was short, but as I said, I felt that something had to happen between the arrival of the Megas and the Devas and the arrival of Ogudomon so here it was. Left it on a bit of a cliffhanger there but the next chapter is up anyway, so go read it for my attempt at a major Digimon battle.

* * *

Next time...

I just said.

* * *

Coming up:- **Chapter 14 : Ogudomon**


	14. Ogudomon

This is actually chapter 14. I'll put On Edge up tomorrow, but it'll be a short filler chapter. Basically, it'll be a brief catch-up on the refugees and then bam, a Digital Field. Here goes nothing – my attempt at a major Digimon battle.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 14:- Ogudomon**

* * *

The Demon Lord Digimon loomed over the village like a great black and purple spider, with one leg missing. Each of its seven legs was shining like black metal ribbed with purple and each had a red spike on the knee and, strangely, a smoking sword was sticking out of each leg between the knee and the body, and on each bottom of each thigh was a swivelling eye. The legs seemed to surrounded a wide mouth on the bottom of the body and each foot was adorned with three sickle-like claws. Sticking out over the body was an armoured head shaped like a shield and from between the plates glowed a single red eye in the middle. There appeared to be seven strange symbols just floating in the air around the head.

"Ugly bugger, isn't he?" breathed Terriermon.

"That is Ogudomon. He cares nothing for his looks, just the destruction of everything."

"Isn't about time evil digimon found another agenda?" asked Terriermon.

"This is a serious situation, Terriermon," chided Henry, pulling his D-Arc from his pocket. "We're gonna need everything we have."

With that, Ogudomon lifted one huge foot and flattened an entire apartment complex by merely stepping forwards. It was a good thing it was empty.

"Quick guys!" called Takato. "We've gotta biomerge now!"

"Right!" yelled three other voices.

"Let's get this show on the road," said Ryo, and as one, the four Tamers pressed their D-Arcs to the sky and yelled two words to the sky:-

"Biomerge activate!"

They were enveloped in light and fell back into their partners and each began to call out as the digivolution to Mega began.

"**Guilmon biomerge to…"**

"**Terriermon biomerge to…"**

"**Renamon biomerge to…"**

"**Monodramon biomerge to…"**

The Devas and the other Mega Digimon watched in fascination as one by one the Tamers and their partners became one extremely powerful digimon. Guilmon and Takato were the first. When the light diminished, in their place was a Knight Digimon, dressed in white armour and a flowing red cape. The Digimon had red shoulder-guards, knee-guards, and elbow-guards, and a medieval style helmet. The Knight held a long, metallic lance over his right arm and in his left hand, he held a massive, round shield.

"**Gallantmon!****"**

Henry and Terriermon grew huge. The result stood as high as the ruined apartment buildings around them, covered in green, plated armour, and he had two large, circular Gatling guns attached above his large hands. The Digimon's shoulders were two massive rocket launchers with frowning rabbit faces on the front.

"**MegaGargomon!****"**

Rika and Renamon became a female shaman. She held a tall, golden staff in her right hand. She wore a golden mask, which covered the upper half of her face, with a breastplate and shoulder-guards of the same colour. Two long ponytails of silver hair flowed over the Digimon's back.

"**Sakuyamon!"**

Monodramon and Ryo also looked human in their resultant form. His right arm was cybernetic, covered in armoured metal. He had a silver mask which completely covered his face. Two red scarves flowed out behind him.

"**Justimon!"**

"So it's true," muttered Vajramon. "They really can merge with each other."

The four merged digimon took up a battle stance, MegaGargomon being careful not to tread on anybody. Ogudomon didn't seem to even notice, or perhaps he was just supremely unconcerned. He just continued his slow stepping forward, being sure to flatten as many buildings as possible with each leg as he went.

"And now it's my turn!" declared Impmon. **"Impmon warp-digivolve to… Beelzemon Blast Mode!"**

Beelzemon flapped upwards and hovered out in front of the others, about waist height with MegagGargomon. "You guys just chill for a moment," said Beelzemon. "I'm just gonna go and have a little chat with my old pally."

"That's not such a bad idea," said Mihiramon. "If Beelzemon can keep him talking for a while, we may not have to fight for so long."

"Go then," said the dual voice of Gallantmon. "See what you can do."

"Will do, Pineapple-head. Will do," Beelzemon winged upwards, higher and higher, higher than almost any building in the city barring the HYPNOS towers. With a sweep of his wings he sailed around Ogudomon's head and said, "Hey! Ogudomon! How's it hanging?"

Ogudomon's eye that was in his head turned to face the former Demon Lord. He stopped his destruction of the city and looked at him. "Beelzemon?" he asked, surprised. His voice was dual, like those of a biomerge – well he was a DNA digivolved digimon. One voice was rasping and rather cracked. The other was like a growling hiss. All in all the effect was menacing. "I did not expect to see you here."

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" said Beelzemon.

"What?" Ogudomon said in the freaky voice.

"Oh nothing," said Beelzemon. "How've you been holding up? Last I heard you were imprisoned by the Sovereigns."

"I was," said Ogudomon. "But I have escaped."

"Duh!" said Beelzemon, then wondered if he had used to sound like that when he had been a Demon Lord. He had no memory of any of it.

"Your personality clearly has not changed," said Ogudomon. Beelzemon felt a slight relief. "But you have changed physically. Last time I saw you, you did not have wings."

"Got myself a Mode change," grinned Beelzemon. "This is my Blast Mode and it gives me twice as much power as I ever had."

"Impressive," said Ogudomon. "But how have you managed to evade the Sovereigns for so long?"

"It's all about getting in with the right people," said Beelzemon. "I was actually hired by one of the Sovereigns, the chicken, Zhuqiaomon, to dispose of some humans that had entered the Digital World. 'Course, I was never really on his side."

"I should think not," said Ogudomon, the eye narrowing. "You seem to have mellowed a little Beelzemon. You used to think any trivial conversation like this was a waste of time."

"'S the Mode Change," said Beelzemon. "Calms me a little. Useful thing too. I got into quite a bit of trouble because of my hot head. Went to ground for a bit after a while, but I felt that you were coming back… as I knew you would, so I decided to get off my lazy arse and start kicking butt."

Ogudomon's eye remained narrowed. "Tell me," he said. "Why have the Digimon down there not attacked yet. I know that they were sent by the Sovereigns to delay me as I entered this world and so allow them time to get here, so why are they not doing as they were instructed.

"You seem to be on the ball then," said Beelzemon. "As for why they haven't attacked, beat's me. So, you gonna get on with wrecking everything before their highnesses turn and trash you like last time?"

"They won't."

"Say what?"

"They won't come and stop me. They shall be unable. I am fully aware of the immunity to my powers that the Sovereigns have, so I could not risk it happening again. The Sovereigns will never get here."

Beelzemon blinked, then recovered. "Hmmph. I say bring them on!" He cocked Berenjena and the pink energy sparked within it. "I could take 'em."

"No you couldn't you fool, and neither could I, but at least I know I can't."

"Care to test that?"

Meanwhile, down below, the part of MegaGargomon that was Henry and the part of Sakuyamon that was Rika, were both being overloaded with thoughts from the other. The bond between Renamon and Terriermon was affecting them as well. They reeled slightly as they felt a slight pull on their heartstrings. Both knew that the other fancied them now.

And neither had a problem with it.

"This is incredible," said Rika. "I understand how you feel, Renamon."

"Thank you, but I'm afraid now is not the time for this. The attack is about to begin."

"Still," said Henry. "It's a marvel. It's just…wow…"

"This is only half of it," said Terriermon. "The bond's mostly between Renamon and me. Maybe it'll be different after you and Rika have "done it.""

"Terriermon!"

"Momentai!"

"Something is not right about those Digimon," said Ogudomon. "They should have attacked by now."

"Well, it was nice chatting Oggo," sneered Beelzemon. "But now it's time for some barbecued spider! **CORONA BLASTER!"**

Ogudomon was caught completely unawares. While the powerful attack to his face did no damage to him whatsoever, it still felt like he had been punched there by something his size and he staggered backwards a little, his two legs furthest back buckling slightly as he flattened more buildings.

"What are you doing, Beelzemon?" he roared.

"Like I said," said Beelzemon, as he began to draw a pentagram in the air. "It's all about getting yourself in with the right people. And I cashed my chips in with the Tamers. **CORONA DESTROYER!"** The blast erupted forwards with such force and at such close range, it snapped Ogudomon's head back and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Let's do this!" yelled Gallantmon and he leapt forward, the others one his heels. As planned, the other Megas began to spread out and encircle Ogudomon. The giant Mega Lord was up on his feet at surprising speed, using his sickle-claws to lever himself upwards.

"You will pay for this, Beelzemon!" he roared. **"ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"** It was his melee attack and he ran forward with intent to stomp Beelzemon into the ground. Beelzemon tucked his wings into his side and barrel-rolled straight through the charging legs to come out the other side, firing off another blast for Berenjena to smash the back of Ogudomon's head.

"We're not gonna let you take the life of anyone here!" yelled Gallantmon, sweeping forward and bringing his lance to bear. It glanced sharply off the skin of one of Ogudomon's legs and Gallantmon span a couple of times before pointing it again. **"LIGHTNING JOUST!"** The beam erupted from the lance and smashed into a knee, causing it to buckle.

Ogudomon roared and swung wildly with one leg. Gallantmon was caught off guard. It appear that the legs were double-jointed and could swing upwards as easily as down. Gallantmon was hit in the back and he catapulted through the air. He managed to pull himself together and land feet first on a vertical building, causing part of that wall to collapse.

"Well, that's one thing we now know we need to stay away from," said Justimon, shooting forward at high speed. **"JUSTICE KICK!" **he yelled and his foot caught Ogudomon in the side of the head, knocking it sideways. Another of Ogudomon's feet latched into the side of a building and pushed off from it, so his head squarely caught Justimon and sent him flying back too. Ogudomon raised a foot to squash the stunned Justimon.

Suddenly Ogudomon was yanked backwards. The head perched on top swivelled like that of an owl to look behind him. MegaGargomon had grabbed him by one of his legs and was pulling. "Sorry, Spider-boy," he said. "But it's time for you to scuttle back down the drain-pipe."

"You dare touch me!" roared Ogudomon.

MetalSeadramon swooped out of nowhere and wrapped his tails around another leg and the two huge Megas heaved, hauling Ogudomon away from Justimon. The cannon sockets opened all across MegaGargomon's body as he and MetalSeadramon aimed for the same spot.

"**MEGA BARRAGE!"**

"**RIVER OF POWER!"**

Their attacks crashed into Ogudomon's open mouth and he roared, losing his balance once again and coming to the floor, where he was immediately set upon by attacks from all around. None of them were damaging him in any way, but the fighter's kept going. They had to hold out until the Sovereigns got here. But Ogudomon was a lot more agile on his feet than they had anticipated and he was up again very quickly. Now he was surrounded by the small army of Digimon.

A leg rushed out and slammed towards MegaGargomon. The giant Mega, though only half the size of the great Ogudomon, caught it in both hands and held it at bay. "**POWER PUMMEL!"** he yelled, momentarily releasing his hold with one hand and slamming his fist into the bottom of the foot, sending it flying backwards.

"Double team!" yelled Gryphonmon and he soared around Plesiomon's head.

"Triple," said his tail.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Gryphonmon **"SOLAR ROAR!" **he screamed and he sent a super-sonic wave from his mouth.

**SHAKING PULSE!"** agreed Plesiomon, sending his own super-sonic attack with it. The massive sonic-boom pummelled Ogudomon in the side. The Demon Lord dug his claws into the ground, but his body was still pushed backwards. Antylamon leapt upwards towards the descending head.

"**BUNNY BLADES!"** she called, bouncing upwards off his head and into the air above him, sending waves of pink energy down on his exposed neck. Ogudomon took the hit and scowled, before suddenly shooting his head upwards towards the airborne Deva.

But suddenly Sakuyamon was there. **"TALISMAN SPHERE!"** she yelled, and the bubble surrounded both the girls. Ogudomon's head glanced off it and the two were catapulted sideways, dizzy but unharmed.

"Thanks," said Antylamon.

"Not a problem," said Sakuyamon.

"That's my mate," cheered the Terriermon part of MegaGargomon. "Can't be beat."

"Thank you," smiled Renamon with Sakuyamon's face.

"THIS INTERFERENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!" roared Ogudomon. **"CATEDRAL!"** A pulse of some clear energy was disgorged from his mouth and as soon as it hit the ground it sent a massive shockwave in all directions. The quicker digimon darted behind buildings, which were practically shattered. Sakuyamon threw up another shield around those nearest to her and Gallantmon brought his shield before him. MegaGargomon attempted to shield those who were left with his own body. The shockwave knocked him off his feet and Gallantmon was sent flying. They were got up, relatively unharmed thanks to their heavy armour, but a little shaken.

"This guy's going the right way to taking out the entire city," said Henry. "I hope the Sovereigns get here soon."

"Momentai," said Terriermon. "They'll be here."

"Until that time," Sandiramon appeared from behind the nearest building, "we must continue to hold him at bay. **VENOM AXE!"**

The axe shaped acid glanced off Ogudomon and was shot into a building. Justimon vaulted forwards and swung between the giant legs. "**JUSTICE BURST!"** he yelled, firing a round of blue-energy beams from his cybernetic arm, each one slamming into one of the eyes on the bottom of his legs.

"**ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"** called Ogudomon again, charging forwards, but Justimon was not going to be hit by a leg again, and he executed elegant flips and barrel-rolls to avoided the swinging appendages. Ogudomon kept going forwards, towards Plesiomon. But then, Jijimon and Babamon were before him.

"**GUARD STICK!"** hollered Jijimon, waving his staff over the ground and suddenly a wall of earth burst from the street, shooting higher than the buildings. Ogudomon crashed into it and recoiled. Babamon then leapt around the wall and added her own attack.

"**DARK BROOM!"** she swiped her broom and a wave of energy washed from the bristles and collided with the side of Ogudomon's head, momentarily blinding him. He shook his head and then leered down at the group before him.

"You are strong," he said. "I'll give you that. But there are only a few who can even harm me and you are not in that category. You all have a slight malice in your hearts and that it enough for me to go on."

"Yeah, well at least our fighting is fun, whippersnapper," called Jijimon.

"I find this fighting fun too," replied Ogudomon. "It is pointless so let's just get this over with and let me squash you like the bugs you are."

"Your one-liners are so old," called MegaGargomon. "Get him guys!"

"**DEVA BLADE!"**

"**TREASURE BOW!"**

"**GUARDIAN BARRAGE!"**

Three attacks hit Ogudomon from behind, from Vajramon, Pajiramon and Guardromon. Unlike the attacks of the Megas they did not influence him that greatly, but they still knocked his head forwards the smack into Jijimon's wall.

"Ow," said Ogudomon. "Die!"

He wheeled around, but the three attackers were already retreating behind a Mega Digimon who really was a bug, and had huge pincers, which were glowing with a bright energy. GranKuwagamon's voice was deep and even slightly melodious as he called **"X-SCISSOR CLAW!" **An extremely powerful blast lanced from his pincers, throwing Ogudomon into Jijimon's blockade, which shattered.

"While he's down!" shouted Sakuyamon. **"SPIRIT STRIKE!" **She sent her four elemental foxes flying towards Ogudomon as he began to get to his feet. They switched from being unsubstantial to very solid and clawed at Ogudomon's legs and head, but the Demon Lord seemed unfazed by this assault.

"This isn't working," said Gallantmon. "What do we do now?"

"There's nothing else we can do," said Justimon. "We're just gonna have to keep whittling away at him like this."

"But we aren't even whittling," said Gallantmon. "We're doing flat out nothing to him, except we keep knocking him over."

"The Sovereigns should be here within minutes," said Mihiramon. "They must know that Ogudomon had left the Digital World by now – they'd be able to feel it."

"That's a reassuring thought," said MegaGargomon. "And on that note, let's keep up the pounding. No reason to give Zhuqiaomon a reason to laugh at us when he arrives."

"Looks like Plesiomon's up to something," said Sakuyamon. They turned to look. The Plesiosaur Digimon was floating in the air and water seemed to be appearing out of nowhere behind him and surrounding him.

"He doesn't look very happy," noted Beelzemon.

"Are any of us?" asked Antylamon.

"**HYDRO IMPACT CRUSHER!"** Plesiomon roared and hurtled forwards at breakneck speed. The giant ball of high-power water bowled into Ogudomon and sent him sprawling. The water began to coat him and Plesiomon sailed clear.

"Just like the old days, huh?" MetalSeadramon snaked overhead, then yelled an attack which none of the Tamers had never heard him use in the TV show. **"GIGA ICE BLAST!"**

Just like his champion form, he was using a stream of ice from his mouth, which instantly froze the water coating the Mega and sealing him to the floor and a freezing prison.

"Oh, nice combo," said Terriermon. "Leave him there for a few days and he'll feel like hell."

But the ice began to crack as Ogudomon pushed upwards.

"Or not," said Terriermon.

"Wait, Terriermon, that's an interesting thought," said Renamon.

"What is?" asked Terriermon, bemused.

"You said "he'll feel like hell in a few days," because it would be normal pain. Mihiramon, would his nullifying power affect something that wasn't a direct digimon attack?"

Mihiramon looked confused, "I think it wouldn't. Why?"

"Let's test it," Terriermon had caught on – well, actually he just knew what Renamon was thinking. "If you will, Gallantmon."

"Huh?" asked the knight.

"He means," said Sakuyamon. "Stick him with your lance and see what happens."

"Oh..." Gallantmon nodded and flew forwards, as Ogudomon burst from his ice prison.

"YOU CAN'T CONTAIN ME WITH PUNY ICE! I AM OGUDOMON, THE MOST POWERFUL OF THE DEMON LORDS!"

"We know who you are," said Gallantmon. "Now eat lance."

The tip of the lance, Gram, buried itself in the spot on Ogudomon's leg where the sword was buried in it. Ogudomon roared as a prick of pain caught him in the leg. It felt like someone had driven a needle in there. A small needle, but nevertheless it still hurt.

"Nice," said MegaGargomon. "Looks like you were right, Renamon."

"Let's take him with some old-style human techniques then shall we?" grinned Beelzemon. "**CORONA BLASTER!"** He aimed his attack at the building near Ogudomon's head. The top of it was blown to pieces and a large heavy section of it thundered downwards onto Ogudomon's head.

"AAARGH!" roared Ogudomon. "You think that can hurt me?"

"You don't know until you try do you?" asked Justimon. "But this could work for us. Give us a hand with this, MegaGargomon! **THUNDER CLAP!"** The cybernetic arm slammed into the ground and the foundations around another building were weakened. MegaGargomon grabbed the toppling building and heaved, shoving it forwards into Ogudomon and slamming backwards, to be sandwiched between two buildings.

Angrily, Ogudomon shoved the offending building off him and charged the giant cyborg. Moments later, he was distracted as Mihiramon shot pas this head and slammed his tail into his eye. Ogudomon grimaced. He had to remember that he was fighting multiple targets here, ones that were used to working in teams by now. He had to have a focus, pick them off one by one, and not simply flick between targets.

His big eye settled on one particular digimon. _Weakest first,_ he thought and he moved towards Guardromon.

"Oh, why do I get the feeling that I've just been singled out here," said the only digimon there lower than the Ultimate level. **"GUARDIAN BARRAGE!"** The whistling rockets were aimed for the head of Ogudomon and the building near it, causing another small chunk of concrete to be dropped from the sky, but other than that his attack had no effect.

"You annoying pest!" cried Ogudomon, towering above him. "Let me re-arrange a few gears for you."

He brought his foot down.

"**TALISMAN SPHERE!"** shouted Sakuyamon again, dashing in-between the two and raising the barrier which the foot glanced off.

"I've changed my mind," said Ogudomon. "Since you seem to be the one who can best protect the others, you will be the first to go!"

"Not in this lifetime," cried Sakuyamon.

"You couldn't be more wrong," said Ogudomon, placing the foot on the force-field and beginning to push down. He pressed most of his body weight onto the shield, straining it to breaking point. Bead of sweat were running down Sakuyamon's face as she fought to keep the shield up, while the others desperately threw attacks to no effect at his back.

"**CATEDRAL!"** roared Ogudomon again and the shockwave broke the shield, sending Sakuyamon and Guardromon flying backwards. The foot missed Sakuyamon by inches, but then quickly was raised off the ground again and pinned her to the floor.

"SAKUYAMON!" yelled MegaGargomon, charging forwards.

"Goodbye, shaman," leered Ogudomon.

But then he was stopped by an attack that came from a direction he had least expected. It came from right under his chin.

"**KAHUNA WAVES!"**

Ogudomon's head was thrown backwards and his foot rose slightly. Sakuyamon thrust her staff up and fought to wrest it off her. MegaGargomon grabbed Ogudomon from behind and pulled him backwards, helped by Gryphonmon and GranKuwagamon, who soared overhead and body-slammed Ogudomon in the place where he had just been attacked.

Sakuyamon pulled free from the foot and flew upwards. "Thanks, MarineAngemon," she said.

Ogudomon threw MegaGargomon backwards and scanned for his attacker, finally locating it flapping out of the way. Damn small Mega. He would be the first... no, he must stick with one target. He turned back to Sakuyamon.

"You're still first!" he declared.

"Wrong," she replied. **"AMETHYST WIND!"** The attack sent the purple shards out towards Ogudomon's feet and shattered there, throwing up a cloud of dust. By the time it cleared, Sakuyamon and Guardromon had both vanished.

But Gryphonmon and GranKuwagamon were still encircling his head.

"Get away!" he yelled. "You annoy me!"

GranKuwagamon wheeled down and fastened his razor sharp pincers around one leg, piercing it sharply. Gryphonmon began to lacerate another with his talons and bites from his tail. "GET HIM!" yelled Gallantmon and the other Digimon leapt forward and swarmed over Ogudomon, biting, clawing and using any available weapon to them, like Gallantmon's lance, a club made of concrete by MegaGargomon and Vajramon's swords.

Ogudomon winced as the pinpricks of pain erupted all over him, but they were nothing more. He was all but invincible here. **"CATEDRAL!" **he called yet again and threw off most of his attackers. But MetalSeadramon still his coils wrapped around his neck.

"**HAIL SQUEEZE!"** he shouted and began to restrict Ogudomon's air supply. This was an attack that might actually work, not because of damage, but because of the side effect. Ogudomon noticed a gaping flaw in his design. He had no arms, and he was being choked by a sea-serpent that was not a Sovereign.

He would NOT stand for that!

In a display of almost pure madness he hurled himself into a building. It hurt his head, but it had the desired effect – MetalSeadramon yelled as he was suddenly pushed between two objects and he released his hold momentarily, before slipping out of the hold and undulating away.

Ogudomon was about to pursue, when suddenly he found his path obscured by the wings of his former partner, Beelzemon. "Don't think I'm done with you yet, bub," said Beelzemon. **"DARKNESS CLAW!"**

Beelzemon's hand plunged into Ogudomon's face, eliciting a cry of not pain, but slight shock and the glowing eye was touched by the claws. Beelzemon then winged away and was replaced by Jijimon and Babamon, riding on their sticks.

"**CLAW OF DOOM!"**

"**DARK BROOM!"**

"Hey, did you ever notice that those attacks rhyme?"

The two attacks hit Ogudomon in the same spot, before they two winged away. Ogudomon was slightly confused and disorientated. What was the point? They couldn't hurt him like this so why was...

BAM!

He had not seem Gallantmon soaring upwards, Aegis shield before him to slam into the head at full tilt, driving it to the side, while Gallantmon himself was protected by the shield.

"You about ready to give up yet?" Gallantmon yelled. "Because we sure aren't."

"You fools," laughed Ogudomon. "You'll run out of energy sooner or later, and then you will be destroyed."

"**ARM BOMBER!"**

Two balls to shockwaves smashed into the head of Ogudomon in the spot that Gallantmon had just vacated. Ogudomon saw his attacker was Antylamon, standing on the roof of a building, beside Pajiramon, who levelled her crossbow at him.

"The Sovereigns will be here soon enough!" declared the Sheep Deva.

"Will they?" asked Ogudomon and laughed. "I hate to disappoint you, but I left the Sovereigns a little welcoming committee."

"What?"

"They'll never get here," laughed Ogudomon. "Now, you must die!" He lunged forward. Pajiramon quickly fired off her crossbow bolts and then raised her front feet. **"THUNDER STOMP!"** she cried, smashing the building and forcing a large section of roof slap-bang into Ogudomon's head. Antylamon grabbed her comrade and leapt, carrying the two of them over Ogudomon on safely to the ground.

"I'm getting sick of you dropping buildings on m-aargh!" Ogudomon looked down at a sudden pain in his foot. Sandiramon had a large axe held in his tail and had just hacked into one of Ogudomon's red claws. Ogudomon went to squash Sandiramon, but the snake moved surprisingly fast for one with no legs and avoided the foot which could have mashed him into the ground. Moments later, Justimon swooped out of nowhere and scooped Sandiramon away.

"Playing hit and run then are we?" taunted Ogudomon.

"What did you mean by welcoming committee?" Ogudomon looked around to see that Vajramon was talking to him.

"An old acquaintance of mine is going to waylay the Sovereigns," he replied. "Pity I can't be there to see the looks on their faces."

"Nothing can beat the Sovereigns. **TERRA BLADE!"** Vajramon slammed his swords into the ground and it sent a miniature earthquake down around two of Ogudomon's legs, causing a slight stumble.

"True," said Ogudomon. "But who says he was going to destroy them. I just said waylay."

* * *

"There it is," said Azulongmon. "That's the Data Stream that'll take us to the human world."

"I really can't believe that we're about to do this," growled Zhuqiaomon. "The rabbit will probably mock and taunt me the entire time I'm there."

All four Sovereigns were blazing across the topmost level and towards the Data Stream, Ebonwumon and Baihumon along the ground and the other two in the air.

"An entire world is at stake, Zhuqiaomon," Baihumon called up to him. "Try and swallow your pride."

They had all but reached the Data Stream when suddenly they all heard a voice. A voice none of them had expected to hear for a long, long time.

"**GIFT OF DARKNESS!"**

The Sovereigns scattered as a ball of yellow energy burst through their midst. They wheeled about, or rotated slowly in the case of Ebonwumon, to look at their attacker, who was now standing between them and the Data Stream. A great muscled, black-furred body, with vicious claws on hands and feet, and a second set of energy claws attached to each hand. Spiked shoulder and knee guards adorned him and behind him were sweeping and segmented purple wings. Wrapped around his arms were numerous chains and his head was that of a demon dog, with the big horns of a ram. His eyes were glowing blood-red.

"Belphemon!" said Zhuqiaomon, eyes narrowed. "Shouldn't you be stewing in your little chest as a Digi-egg for another nine-hundred and seventy-two years?"

"IT IS AGAINST MY NATURE!" roared Belphemon Rage Mode, who seemed to be incapable of anything other than shouting. "BUT OGUDOMON REVIVED ME AND NOW I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A TASK!"

"Ye cannae gonnae-no us," said Scottish-Ebonwumon. "Ye micht an aw jist gie it ay uir way."

"I AM NOT ONE FOR TALKING AND PLAYING GAMES! SO I'LL GET RIGHT TO THE POINT! **LAMPRANTHUS!"** The chains on his arms began to unfold and glowed with a horrific greenish light. It was vaguely ghostly. The chains lunged towards its intended target.

But it's intended target was not the Sovereigns. It was the Data Stream. Belphemon didn't even bother to turn around as the chains shot backwards.

"NO!" cried Azulongmon, who had just realised what was about to happen. The chains entered the stream and let loose more ghostly light. A few seconds later, the stream changed colour completely to the same light and then the chains withdrew. Then the Data Stream...exploded!

Belphemon grinned sadistically.

"You evil soulless creature! Now we cannot reach the human world. You've corrupted and destroyed all the portals!" roared Baihumon.

"I KNOW!" leered Belphemon.

"'Tis not over yet," declared Irish-Ebonwumon. "Dare are still de ancient ones. We'll jist ask for another portal."

"THE ANCIENT ONES? YOU MEAN THE DIGI-GNOMES!" Belphemon opened a fist which had been clenched. A single panicked Digi-Gnome flew out of it. "THIS IS THE LAST ONE! **GIFT OF DARKNESS!"**

The Digi-Gnome squealed as it was caught in the blast and it disintegrated. All four Sovereigns looked on in horror. To kill an Ancient One was one of the most monstrous acts ever. The Digi-Gnomes were the purest of the pure. This could not go unpunished.

"YOU MUST DIE!" yelled Zhuqiaomon angrily.

Belphemon leered. He knew he couldn't fight them all, but he was going out fighting like his brethren. **"LAMPRANTHUS!"** the chains fired towards the Sovereigns this time.

"**AURORA FORCE!"** Azulongmon curled into a circle and released a huge energy blast from the middle.

"**BLAZING HELIX!"** Zhuqiaomon spread his wings and four balls of fire appeared at each tip and with a flap they shot down, elongating and twisting into a helix of flame.

"**BLACK HAIL!"** Ebonwumon shot a bunch of mist skyward from the trees on his back and suddenly an earth-shattering barrage of black ice-blocks rained down.

"**KONGOU!"** Baihumon fired a huge energy wave from his mouth.

The four attacks broke through the chains and impacted on Belphemon with such force that they almost punched a whole straight through that level of the Digital World. Belphemon split into data, but he did so laughing evilly and the sound echoed as his particles went skyward.

"It was folly for us to keep him alive," said Azulongmon.

"Well, it wasn't my idea!" snapped Zhuqiaomon.

"Not time for arguments, we must try and find another way the Human World and quickly!" Azulongmon and the other four Sovereigns split up and ran or flew in different directions.

* * *

Ogudomon looked skyward. "It is done," he said calmly. "The portals to the Digital and Human World have been corrupted and destroyed. Good work, Belphemon."

There was a collective sagging from all the Digimon present. The Sovereigns weren't coming. They couldn't defeat this guy. They were doomed.

But the fighting spirit of the Tamers loomed up and took over. "We won't give up," yelled Justimon. "Not until there is no way that we can keep fighting."

"It's your funeral," snarled Ogudomon. "Or it would be, but no-one will be around to give it to you. This whole world will fall before me!"

"Will you shut up already? Come up with something original for a change," called Terriermon. "Bad guys are all the same."

"No, I am different! I am strong! I will not fall to the like of you!"

"We'll see about that!" yelled Gryphonmon. **"MÖBIUS BITE!" **He brought his jaws down on the back most of Ogudomon's legs, but when that failed to do anything, he used his **"SOLAR ROAR!"** again and sent the shockwave into Ogudomon's gaping mouth.

"Nothing is working," hissed Plesiomon. "My Sorrow Blue won't work here. There must be something that we can do."

"There is never necessarily and answer," said Sandiramon. "But to give up this fight would be to sign not only ourselves, but millions of humans to death. We cannot allow that to happen without any resistance."

"Sandiramon's right," said Antylamon. "This is a fight we must win."

"I have an idea!" said Mihiramon suddenly. "Sakuyamon! Can you manipulate your Talisman sphere into any shape you choose?"

"It requires effort, but yes," said Sakuyamon.

"If you can, form a double ended chute with it," said Mihiramon, with one end above Plesiomon's back and the other pointing upwards between Ogudomon's legs.

"What will that do?" asked Beelzemon.

"Just do it!" cried Mihiramon.

"Alright. **TALISMAN SPHERE!"** Sakuyamon waved her staff at the bubble that appeared and with a great deal of effort she bent it into the shape that Mihiramon had said.

"What is this?" bellowed Ogudomon as the transparent chute forced its way between two of his legs to point at his mouth.

"Ah, I see where you're going with this," grinned Plesiomon. **"WATER TAIL BLASTER!"** A huge waterspout suddenly erupted straight upwards from his whip-like tail and it went straight up the chute in an unstoppable torrent. It wound around its course and then burst through the other end.

The effect was like a huge geyser had just gone off under Ogudomon's belly. He was literally lifted off his feet and shot up into the air. He fell heavily, upside down and his head was squashed under his body.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" hollered Ogudomon, righting himself. **"CATEDRAL!"**

The shockwave brutally swept outwards, levelling buildings and throwing back the digimon in ones and twos, flooring many of them. Only the larger ones remained upright, bearing the brunt of the attack with some difficulty. They were tiring. They all were. This had to be ended quickly, or it would end badly.

"This blows all of our fights out of perspective," said Babamon to Jijimon. "What do we do now?"

"We gotta keep fighting," replied Jijimon. "It's the only way. Let's get this guy."

"Right behind you," said Babamon and the two took to the air.

"**TRI BANISH!" **Babamon sent a wave of three energy bolts right at Ogudomon, who blocked them with his legs.

"**GENTLEMAN PUNCH!"** Jijimon accumulated energy in his fist and lunged towards Ogudomon.

"**ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"**

"Uh-oh," Jijimon decided that punching might not be the best idea as Ogudomon came haring towards him on his huge legs.

"Get out of the way!" Beelzemon plucked Jijimon from the air and flew backwards, outpacing the rushing Ogudomon.

"T'anks," said Jijimon. "I really should have seen that one coming."

"Get out of here," said Beelzemon. "I'll hold him off." He pulled his shotguns out. **"DOUBLE IMPACT!"** he yelled and sent off a volley of bullets at Ogudomon, who had stopped running and was now calmly walking with purpose towards Beelzemon.

"I think I've finally decided who's going first," he said. "It'll be you, Beelzemon, for your treachery towards the Demon Lords."

"I don't give a rat's arse for the Demon Lords," said Beelzemon. "And you're not gonna take my life on my watch." Berenjena re-formed on his arm. **"CORONA BLASTER!"**

"Quick, let's get in there and help him," cried Gallantmon, but suddenly, GranKuwagamon flew over his head.

"**GRAND DARKNESS!" **the viral bug yelled in his bass voice and darkness began to literally engulf Ogudomon. Ordinarily the attack would eat away at his skin like acid, but it had no effect like this. However, it did obscure Ogudomon's vision so that he couldn't see.

"You can't hide from me like that!" Ogudomon began to swing his legs wildly around. The Digimon outside the darkness began to quickly vacate the area as Ogudomon flailed blindly. The Demon Lord continued to flail for a good minute, but he wasn't hitting any Digimon. Eventually the Darkness cleared and Ogudomon found that he all of the Digimon had retreated to a point some distance away.

No, not all.

"**SMILING FACE!"**

For the second time that day, Ogudomon was suddenly struck by a great force, a pink energy beam, from underneath his chin and he went crashing down. Curse that tiny MarineAngemon. He could slip out of the way of an enemy and out of their sight far too easily.

"Why will you not die!" shouted Ogudomon.

"No want to," said MarineAngemon, before flitting out of sight.

Ogudomon turned to see the other Digimon had begun a full frontal assault, all coming from the same direction, Gallantmon and Justimon out in front. Gallantmon brought Gram up and aimed it at Ogudomon's eye that was in his head.

"**CATEDRAL!"** yelled Ogudomon, and Gallantmon quickly brought up his shield. MegaGargomon and MetalSeadramon, who had been flying overhead, suddenly dropped down and formed a physical wall, both being pushed back a little, but otherwise unharmed.

Justimon was suddenly behind him and did a quick one-eighty. **"VOLTAGE BLADE!"** he yelled, sending a beam from his arm, which had suddenly formed an energy sword. The beam struck him in the back of the neck and drove him forward a little, straight into the path of a cheesed off Sakuyamon.

"**AMETHYST MANDALA!" **A halo of golden light surrounded Ogudomon and began to decrease in size, forcing the Demon Lord in on himself.

"YOU CANNOT HARM ME!" he practically screamed as he burst forth from the imprisoning light, to be met by four elemental foxes that Sakuyamon had just sent at him. As he tried unsuccessfully to fend them off, Mihiramon bounded in from the right.

"**ARMOURED TIGER TAIL!"** Mihiramon let out a roar as the tip of his tail formed into a point and he pounded the side of Ogudomon's head, knocking it askew.

"Why you... ARRGH!" Ogudomon suddenly felt pain. The golden attack from Sakuyamon had allowed Gryphonmon to get behind, carrying Vajramon in all four feet, as well as GranKuwagamon with Sandiramon by the belly. As they swept by, Vajramon thrust to the side with both swords and traced two grooves in the side of Ogudomon's head, and Sandiramon did the same with the axe held in his tail on the opposite side.

"ALL RIGHT! I DON'T CARE WHO DIES FIRST! YOU'LL ALL DIE ANYWAY! **ORATIO GRANDILO-"**

BAM!

MetalSeadramon cannoned into Ogudomon at top speed, armoured nose first, stopping his attack and send him backwards, creating grooves in the pavement with the claws on his feet.

"**ENERGY BLAST!"** yelled MetalSeadramon, firing a stream of fire at Ogudomon from his mouth. None of the Digimon were thinking that they're attacks would have the slightest bit of difference, but they were still going in the hope that eventually, they might wear him down enough that his nullifying power might waver. But Ogudomon was still going strong.

MetalSeadramon twisted aside and Ogudomon's underside was exposed to the rest of the group. **"SHAKING PULSE!"** called Plesiomon a second time and the massive shockwave that emanated from him sent Ogudomon to the ground for the who-knows-what-th time.

He moved his legs to stand when one of them was suddenly assaulted. **"WARNING LASER!"** cried Guardromon and sent a pair of lasers lancing from his eyes to score one foot. Ogudomon's eye narrowed at the Champion robot.

"Why aren't you dead yet?" asked Ogudomon from the ground.

"You're losing your touch, asshole," said the dual voice of MegaGargomon above him. Ogudomon's eyes widened in shock and fear, and he braced himself. What MegaGargomon was about to do would not destroy him, but it would hurt like hell.

MegaGargomon had flown extremely high into the air and then suddenly reversed his jets. He came plummeting down faster than gravity should allow and landed squarely on Ogudomon's body as he struggled to rise. Ogudomon roared in pain, the greatest pain he had ever experienced that had not come from a Sovereign.

"Just call me old Steamroller," MegaGargomon seemed to grin with his frozen robotic face, then he took off in a blaze of jet-fire and the faces on his cannons definitely did grin when he launched them at him. **"GARGO MISSILES!"**

Ogudomon's next attempt to stand was halted again when they exploded over his head. "Perhaps you should have invested more in your offensive moves," said Terriermon.

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

"What does that even mean?" Mihiramon asked as he ran past.

"That's a mystery to most people," smiled Antylamon, vaulting right off MegaGargomon's back and downwards, arms turning to axes. **"BUNNY BLADES!"** This time she physically slashed at the head, then kicked it before bounding away, bouncing from vertical surfaces.

"Gallantmon!" said Justimon. "This isn't working. We're all running out of energy! We must retreat and regroup."

"We can't give up," said Gallantmon. "He'll destroy the whole city."

"He'll destroy the whole city whether we stay here or not," said Sakuyamon. "We need a plan. All this endless striking at him will do no good."

"They're right," said Sandiramon, slithering up to them. "There's nothing more we can do here. We need to rest!"

"I won't let him win!" Gallantmon displayed his usual stubbornness, levelling Aegis at Ogudomon, who had just righted himself. **"SHIELD OF THE JUST**!" After a couple of seconds the red energy blast fired forth from it. The sweeping beam took out over half of Ogudomon's legs and the giant Mega stumbled, but regained his footing after a second, completely unfazed.

"This guy is so tough," cried Gallantmon.

"Pineapple-head!" called Beelzemon directly to Guilmon. "You know I don't like to run from a fight, but even I can see that this ain't working. Knock some sense into your other half, will ya."

"They have a point, Takato," said Guilmon. "We keep knocking him over but that's all we're really doing. We need a better plan."

One of Ogudomon's legs suddenly caught Gryphonmon and the Mega Digimon spiralled earthwards, crashing down. He got up again and shook himself.

"I'll get you for that!"

"What about me. I got hit there too!"

"Did someone hear something?"

"Oh, very funny."

"Guys," said MegaGargomon. "He's getting a bit too close to the civilian camp."

"Alright," said Gallantmon. "Come on, guys. Let's fall back."

He turned, along with the whole army and headed back to the camp, in order to protect them as they got them as far away as possible. As they left, Sakuyamon took one last look as Ogudomon seemed to leer after them, and then began to get on with destroying the already wrecked city they had come to know so well.

"I can't stand this," she said.

MegaGargomon hovered behind her. "This isn't over," said Terriermon. "Don't worry Rena, Rika. We'll find a way to make sure this guy stays down when we knock him over. Momentai."

But all four in the two bodies knew that they would do no such thing for a while, as Shinjuku collapsed before them.

* * *

Hope that was up to par. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

* * *

Next time…

What will the plans for a counterattack be?

* * *

Coming up:- **Chapter 15 : Interlude**


	15. Interlude

Well, only two people commented on the battle scene, and two of my reviewers, BornFromDarkness and Fireangel08, seemed to have vanished. But I gained two new ones, so thank you Berna45 and Azure Neko. For some reason I cannot middle it, so here's a new perspective.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 15:- Interlude**

* * *

The people were both scared and angry, with a side order of relief. The idea of the wild digimon as powerful as Yamaki had informed them was terrifying and judging by the loud explosions coming from within the city, they were glad they had been shunted out of the way. But they were still annoyed at being lied to. Conspiracy theorists were saying that the digimon was also a cover story and the government had been in league with that MetalSeadramon to make it seem real.

"Something big is going on down there," said Kazu. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I hope they're okay," said Jeri.

They watched as buildings collapsed and fell left, right and centre. This was just plain scary. The D-Reaper had been a very slow... thing... to advance, and the damage it caused was slow. But this... it was all happening far too fast. For a good half hour they watched as the very foundations of the city shook and some of the tremors even reached their own feet.

"Look," said Mako, suddenly pointing. "It's that knight guy."

"Gallantmon?" asked Jeri, following Mako's finger and yes, there he was. Gallantmon soared towards them and landed, knees bent, lance in a slack position pointing towards the ground, shield hanging loosely on his arm.

"Takato, are you okay?" asked Jeri. She was a little hurt when Gallantmon didn't reply. Instead, the Royal Knight simply turned, ignoring the people staring at him with wonder and stared back at the city with blank eyes.

"Chumley? You in there?" asked Kazu, loudly. He too was ignored.

Then other digimon began to appear. Justimon landed beside Gallantmon in a flurry of scarves and then turned to copy Gallantmon's staring. Jijimon and Babamon swooped down after him. The sky filled with MetalSeadramon, Plesiomon, GranKuwagamon and Gryphonmon.

Antylamon bounded into sight, eliciting a cry of joy from Suzie, who then fell silent at the expression on Antylamon's face. Mihiramon ran up beside her, followed by the other three Devas, Vajramon, Pajiramon and Sandiramon. Then came Guardromon, and MarineAngemon flitted above his head. Beelzemon touched down next to them.

Finally, the huge shape of MegaGargomon approached, Sakuyamon flying beside his shoulder. He landed with a loud crash and then shuffled his feet so that he too looked back towards the city, as did all the others. The humans followed their eyes. The buildings of Shinjuku were still toppling over.

"We failed," Gallantmon lowered his head, before glowing and de-digivolving into Takato and Guilmon. The other biomerges followed suit, MegaGargomon shrinking almost too fast to be allowed and Antylamon also shrank into Lopmon, while Beelzemon became Impmon again. The two of them sadly traipsed over to their partners, as did Guardromon and MarineAngemon.

"Yamaki," said Henry. "The Sovereigns have not come. Ogudomon's running riot. We need to get these people out of here, now, and warn other neighbouring places. He's unstoppable now."

Yamaki nodded and turned away, calling to Tally and Riley. Terriermon bounced up onto Henry's shoulder.

"I never thought it would happen," he said, in an un-Terriermon-like, gloomy way. "We lost. After so much of us coming out on top, no matter how hard the struggle...this is just too much."

"We cannot allow ourselves to become dispirited," said Renamon. "This world still depends on us and we may need to fight that one many more times to come."

"What's the point?" asked Impmon. "We'll just lose again. Couldn't we just, I don't know, evacuate the whole of Japan and hope that Ogudomon can't get across the sea?"

"Do you know the population of Japan?" asked Rika. "That will take a while, even if we could do it."

"I suppose we'll just have to keep going," said Ryo. "Regardless of any defeats we have to do this. Believe me when I say that I know what it's like to be in a potentially hopeless situation and not know what to do." Here, Ryo was referring to the time where he had been enlisted by the Digi-destined into fighting Milleniummon, but he had never deigned to share this little titbit of information with the others. Frankly he was surprised that the others hadn't noticed his tiny appearances in the movie and TV series. Cyberdramon, beside him, grunted.

"He's right," said Mihiramon. "We're going to stay here and help you guys defend this world."

"it's not like we have any choice," said Vajramon bitterly. "Belphemon has destroyed all the passages into and out of the Digital World from here. We're just a stuck here as the Sovereigns are stuck back in the Digital World."

"Oh, don't take that attitude, Vajramon," said Lopmon from her position on Suzie's head. "It doesn't help matters. Who knows, you may come to like it here."

Vajramon snorted and turned away. Pajiramon shook her head and made a gesture with her hands which said silently, "In one ear and out the other." Lopmon giggled.

"Hello?" said Kazu loudly. "Am I gonna have to drag this out of you guys? What happened? What's going on?"

"We all fought hard as we could," said Takato, "but we were having such a little effect upon him. Worse still, we're on our own now. Apparently Ogudomon awoke the remaining Demon Lord Belphemon early and Belphemon destroyed all the portals into this world. The Sovereigns are stuck there and can't help us."

"Oh that's just great," huffed Kazu.

"What about the Digi-Gnomes?" asked Kenta. "Couldn't they get the help of one of them?"

"No," said Renamon. "They can't. During that battle I felt something. Something in my conscience that told me of something awful that had just happened. The Digi-Gnomes have been destroyed."

There was multitude of reactions, from shock, to outrage to confusion. "And just how did you sense that?" asked Impmon.

Renamon shrugged. "I do not know the full extent of my abilities as Sakuyamon. It may take a Digimon many years to figure out everything that they can do. Some never unleash their full potential."

"Weirdness," piped MarineAngemon.

"No kidding," said Kenta. "But while we're on the subject of weird stuff – it is so awesome to see you guys here." He indicated the Mega Digimon around them, particularly Jijimon and Babamon.

"Awesome to be here, kiddo," said Jijimon.

"Yeah, travelling to the human world was once thought to be a myth," agreed Babamon.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" asked Jijimon loudly.

"I don't need your permission," said Babamon at an equal volume.

"Aww nuts, here they go again," said Takato, as they raised their weapons.

"It would be best to leave them to it," said Plesiomon. "But it would be better still to not be in the area. It really grates on your nerves after five seconds."

"They do it all the time," agreed Gryphonmon. "And don't you say anything!"

"Pardon me for existing," said his tail.

"You'd be surprised how something like that can be missed if they stopped doing it," said Renamon, smiling at Terriermon. "I know a certain someone you used to irritate me no end, and look at what happened between us. If Terriermon stopped saying "Momentai" all the time, it wouldn't feel right to me anymore."

"Shucks," grinned Terriermon.

"Er, what do you mean?" asked Jeri. "What happened between you two?"

The smirk on Impmon's face was massive when he said, "You sure you wanna hear the answer to that question?"

Jeri looked confused. "Am I missing something?"

"If you are you are not the only one," said Kenta, surveying the group of Tamers with varying expressions of amusement on their face.

"Go on," said Rika. "Tell them. I can't wait to see the reaction on the faces of those two."

"I have to admit," said Renamon, "that it was highly amusing to watch how Takato took it."

"Highly amusing?" asked Terriermon. "It was downright hilarious and anything less doesn't really do it credit."

"I'm still not sure that I believe it," said Takato. "All I have to go is your words."

"Time out!" yelled Kazu. "Get to the point and let us know what's happening. I'm practically dying here."

"Well Takato," smiled Terriermon. "Since you're still a Doubting Thomas, and don't ask me where I got that phrase, perhaps a visual demonstration would be more likely to convince you."

"Oh, I'm all for that," said Renamon.

"That's a point," said Guardromon. "None of us have seen any of this."

"Not quite none," said Lopmon, pointing at Cyberdramon, who was completely disinterested in this whole topic as it was the fourth time he'd heard it being explained out and was watching the destruction of the city behind them. "He walked in at a most inappropriate time apparently."

"Eew!" said Impmon.

"I still don't get it," said Guilmon.

"Well, Guilmon," said Renamon, swishing her tail in a lazy circle. "Allow us to show you what we're talking about." She held up a gloved paw towards Henry. Terriermon leapt off his partner's shoulder and onto the outstretched limb, running along its length. Renamon enclosed him in a furry embrace and pulled him into a kiss. A full-blown French one. Renamon's thumb went in slight circles across Terriermon's back, while Terriermon reached over and did the same to Renamon's back with his ear.

Takato fainted. Again.

Guilmon suddenly brightened and said, "Oh, I saw people doing that in the park loads of times." Calumon, nearby, nodded enthusiastically.

Kazu and Kenta's jaws practically hit the floor and their eyes nearly popped from their skulls. They stood, motionless and unable to tear their eyes from the weirdness of the scene before them. Guardromon beside them, shut their mouths with his metal hands.

Ai and Mako stared curiously. They didn't know Renamon and Terriermon quite as well as the others so they were a little more inclined to accept this turn of events.

Suzie cheered. "Yay, you're boyfriend and girlfriend. Just like the movies."

Not to mention members of the crowd being chivvied along by the police saw this a there came a round of staring, a slight smattering of confused applause and a few wolf-whistles. Many more also came from Impmon.

Terriermon pulled his face from Renamon's and answered Suzie. "Actually, we're slightly more than that," he said. "We're..."

"...married," interrupted Henry suddenly. Renamon and Terriermon turned to look at him, bemused, and he pointed to Suzie and mouthed "When she's older," at them.

Kazu and Kenta suddenly decided to copy Takato.

Suzie yelled, "Oh, that's so cool!" Then she frowned and pouted. "But why wasn't I invited. Renamon would look so pretty in a white dress."

Terriermon laughed. "That's more a human thing," he said.

"What is a dress?" chipped in Pajiramon.

As Lopmon turned to her sister-Deva and began to explain the concept of human clothing to her, Suzie went over to Renamon and Terriermon and tapped her foot. "I say you're not married until Renamon walks down the aisle in a white dress."

"Er," said Renamon. "That would be impractical considering the state of things," she replied. "While this conversation is interesting to say the least, we still have a world to save."

"And Ogudomon's probably destroyed the nearest wedding dress shop anyway," said Terriermon.

"Speaking of which," said Rika, picking her way carefully around Takato's senseless form, "What are we going to do? We can't just sit here can we?"

"You have a better plan?" asked Ryo. "I suggest we first recover our strength. Sit down, eat something, rest for a while. The best we can do for now is to delay Ogudomon from getting to places. I think..." he looked over at the city and watched sadly as one on the taller towers in the middle suddenly crumbled, "...that he's quite happy destroying that empty place for now, so we should have a break for a bit."

"Ogudomon is not very fast," said Sandiramon, slipping upwards besides Ryo. "He had a massive bulk to support after all. To move about he usually has to have at least five of his legs on the ground, otherwise he'd tip over. This is why I think it's more sensible to have none, like me."

"Where are our parents?" asked Henry.

"Probably with the rest of the crowd," said Jeri.

"We'll tell them that we'll hang around here," said Henry. "We can keep Ogudomon in sight from here without serious risk of injury. We should keep a tab on his movements; let Yamaki know which way he heads after he's finished with the city."

"Aren't the armed forces going to want to do that?" asked Lopmon.

"Probably," said Henry, "but that Catedral attack could bring down their choppers and jets."

"I think we'll just leave the planning to you," said Mihiramon. "I haven't got a clue what you're on about half the time."

"In that case, let's chillax," said Terriermon, "but I am starving. Whose up for pizza?"

"I love pizza," said Impmon.

"What is...?"

"A very good food, Pajiramon," interrupted Lopmon.

Suddenly there was an enormous rumbling sound. Everyone looked alarmed. Was it an earthquake? No, the ground was not shaking. And it was coming from above them. Thunder perhaps?

"Sorry," said MetalSeadramon. "But I'm hungry too. What can a mon do for dinner around here?"

The Tamers – or at least the conscious ones – and their partners, stared at MetalSeadramon, their eyes travelling down his massive stomach. Then they glanced at Plesiomon, Gryphonmon and GranKuwagamon.

"We may have a slight problem," said Rika. There was a round of nodding.

* * *

After a quick phone-call to Yamaki, every single cook, chef, or anyone who knew how to make a decent meal from Shinjuku was rounded up and they began to make some food. These people felt slightly proud, to be serving the food for the ones who had saved the world and now could potentially save the world again. But even so, they were being rushed off their feet to keep up with the demand that Plesiomon and MetalSeadramon demanded. Fortunately, the two giant sea-creatures demanded merely fish, and lots of it, and most of it they had raw. They cooked on some ovens in the nearest town, helped by Babamon – it gave the others an excuse to separate Jijimon from her for a while

The others ate a variety of things, and everyone sampled the pizza at some point. Takato, Kazu and Kenta were woken up beforehand. Kenta almost fainted again when he saw Terriermon hanging from a tree branch and actually feeding Renamon a slice of pepperoni pizza.

Renamon, despite the loss of the entire city of Shinjuku, was feeling ecstatic. She was actually doing it. For the first time ever, she was sitting down and having a meal with the others. The circle went around, nearest to her was Terriermon, Lopmon, Suzie, Henry, Rika and Guilmon, while the other spread around the circle, except Cyberdramon who was eating whole pizzas in two bites to the side, and Guardromon, who didn't eat.

It was a moment of peace, and one which they fully intended to exploit. Or at least it was until Terriermon whipped out Cyberdramon's CD player from hammer space and began to loudly play Chic n Stu by System of a Down.

"What's therapy!" shouted Vajramon over the loud music.

"Something you need!" quipped Terriermon, resulting in a slight smack in the back of the head by his mate.

But then came another surprise. About three-quarters of the way through the significant pile of pizzas that had been brought for the group to eat, another human approached from the trees.

"May I join you?" asked the blond girl.

All eyes turned to her. Suddenly, Rika stood up. "Hey, you're Alice, aren't you?" she asked, although she already knew the answer. It was her alright, the one that had come with Dobermon to help him find the Tamers. She was slightly older now obviously, but her fashion sense and outward appearance had not changed at all.

"Yes," said Alice. "I am Alice McCoy."

"McCoy?" asked Takato, then added jokingly, "Any relation of Professor Rob McCoy?" Here he was referring to one of the Monster Makers – Dolphin.

But it turned out that he was right. "Yes. He is my grandfather," nodded Alice, slightly sadly.

Takato blinked, and was about to say more, but he was beaten to it by Sandiramon. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. "How did you get here?"

"Pardon?" asked Henry. "You know her?"

"Of course I know her," said Sandiramon. "She used to be one of the people that Ebonwumon sheltered from the hard places of the Digital World. Ebonwumon was a very nurturing Digimon as far as I'm aware, but she disappeared before I was called into his service. Ebonwumon said that she was sent to the Human World with Dobermon to give you the biomerging power."

"You came from the Digital World?" asked Takato. "You never said."

"I didn't think I'd need to," said Alice. "It was not relevant. But yes, I was raised by Ebonwumon. I was accidentally sent to the Digital World at the age of five through an experiment that my grandfather had been doing. That's one of the main drives that made him try to rescue you guys – he was remembering me."

"So what are you doing here then?" asked Rika. "Do you have another message from the Sovereigns?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Alice. "I have remained in the Human World, fending for myself ever since last time I met you Tamers. But I was given a second message to give you from Ebonwumon, at the same time. For all his silliness, Ebonwumon is very wise and he told me what to do should something like this ever arise."

"So what is this message?" asked Ryo.

"That's the thing," said Alice. "Ebonwumon was very mysterious about all this sort of thing. He told me not to deliver this message unless it was absolutely necessary, as it may not even be needed, and he doesn't know himself if you are the people it refers to or not."

"What refers to... you're making no sense," said Rika.

"Neither will this message," said Alice sadly. "I don't have a clue either."

"Well..." said Terriermon. "We're all on edge now. What's it gonna be?"

"Beware homonyms and spelling," said Alice. "That's the message."

"You were right," said Terriermon. "No sense at all. What are homonyms?"

Alice shrugged. "You never bothered to find out?" asked Takato.

Alice shook her head. "The message is not for me. It is for you. I did not think it was my business to interfere and tell you what I thought it meant, as I could always be wrong." With that, Alice picked up a couple of slices of pizza and then turned quickly to walk away.

They watched her walk off, and heard her call over her shoulder. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell my grandfather about this. I still have a few things I want to sort out before I rejoin society."

With that, she vanished over the hill and away from the Tamers, the direction the public had gone and the city being trampled into the ground.

"Well that was the complete and utter essence of weirdness," said Terriermon.

"Strange," said Sandiramon. "I wonder why Ebonwumon did not entrust me with this message."

"Perhaps it was because he thought that Alice would have it covered so he saw little need to do it," suggested Ryo.

"Or it's entirely possible that he simply forgot to give it to you," said Lopmon, "or even forgot he'd ever told anyone that message. His memory is not what it used to be is it?"

"Well, you're right about that," muttered Sandiramon.

"Homonyms," Henry said under his breath. "I'm sure I've heard that word before."

"Oh, what a surprise," said Terriermon. "After all, you've read the entire dictionary from cover to cover."

"What is a dictionary?" asked Sandiramon.

"No, I haven't," flushed Henry, causing a titter from Rika. "But I'm sure I heard it in school once."

"Ah, well that explains why no-one else here has heard of it," grinned Terriermon. "They're the ones who don't pay any attention to anything done there."

"Hey," cried Takato, Kazu and Kenta.

"I'm not surprised," said Calumon. "It's not fun there. It's really boring, except when everyone's outside."

"That's a little unfair, Terriermon," said Jeri. "I listen, but I don't have a video memory like Henry does."

"What lesson were you in at the time?" asked Renamon. "This could be extremely important."

"Er, English I think." (Still mean British sense here) I think Ms. Asaji said it once?"

"Asaji?" asked Mihiramon. "Is that a word?"

"That might make sense if we were told to beware it and spelling," said Rika, "but unless we know what a homonym is then we're no closer to figuring this out."

"Well, we can't hop onto the internet to check English terminology," said Impmon. "So, we should call someone who will probably know what the word means."

"Already on it," said Henry, pulling a phone from his pocket and checking through his phonebook until he found the name he was looking for. Rika peered over his shoulder and her eyes widened in slight surprise.

"Henry," she said.

"Yes?" asked Henry.

"I want your babies."

"TERRIERMON!"

"Momentai!"

"That was perfectly timed, Terriermon," chuckled Renamon, as everyone else dissolved into helpless giggles, while Henry and Rika went so red that the rose now had a rival.

Terriermon raised an ear and yelled, "High-three!" Renamon slapped the three-fingered ear with her own three-fingered paw.

"What I was going to say," hissed Rika through gritted teeth. "Was – how did you get Ms. Asaji's number and why?"

"She has facebook too you know," said Henry.

"I'm not even going to ask," said Vajramon.

"And why?" prompted Rika. Henry didn't answer.

"You weren't going to be asking her for extra homework were you?" asked Terriermon.

"No," said Henry. "Just to check that I had done exactly what she wanted for the homework she _had_ set." Terriermon looked disbelieving. Henry ignored his partner and put the phone to his ear after pressing the green button.

After ringing a few times, Ms. Asaji answered. **"Henry, I don't think now is a good time to check on your homework."**

"It's not about homework," said Henry. "But it is important. We just got a message from the sovereigns and it mentioned the word homonyms. What's a homonym? I heard you mention it in class."

"**Ah yes, I remember that,"** said his teacher. **"Well, if it'll help with all of this..."**

"Believe me it will."

"**Well, a homonym is a certain word with two separate meanings. Er, let me think. Ah, for example, think of the word bank. It means a place where you go to put your money, but it also means the side of a river."**

"I see," said Henry. "Well, thank you very much, miss."

"**Did it help?"**

"Yes," lied Henry. "Bye." He hung up, and told the others, almost word for word, what he had just been told.

"Well, I'm still as lost as before," said Guilmon.

"There's a shock," said Impmon.

"Oh, and you know?" demanded Guilmon.

"Nope," said Impmon, brightly. "I was just saying."

"The problem is," said Ryo. "We've been told to beware homonyms and spelling, but we don't actually know what is supposed to be misspelled or anything. It could be any text."

"Well, not any," said Terriermon. "I doubt the text on the label on your bed that it says not to remove is relevant."

"I think it would be best if we stayed on track," said Guardromon.

"Well, I suggest we cudgel our minds for answers in private," said Rika. "I was having a good time."

"Yeah, let's get back to it then," said Impmon. "Shotgun Marguerite!"

They quickly began to demolish the remaining pizzas, and they separated into little groups to go and do things for a while. Ryo and Cyberdramon remained alone, watching the city. Takato and Jeri sought a little time alone but their attempts were foiled by Kazu and Kenta. Guilmon, Impmon and Calumon began to play tag, while Guardromon and MarineAngemon watched. Lopmon took Suzie, Ai and Mako to introduce them to the other Devas and the Mega Digimon.

That left Renamon, Terriermon, Henry and Rika together. Renamon stretched out under a tree and leaned her head against the trunk. Terriermon hopped onto her chest, while Henry and Rika sat to one side. Renamon looked down at her little passenger and smiled lightly.

_Back in the old position, huh?_ she asked in her head.

_Not quite,_ Terriermon rolled onto his stomach. _Now, I'm back in that position._

_At least this time you're there by your own choice,_ said Renamon.

_Yeah, but you aren't tied up this time either so I'm ready to make a getaway if need be._

Renamon knew that Terriermon wasn't being serious, but replied in a severe tone. _Just for that, I'm not putting out tonight._

After a couple of seconds of silence, Terriermon said, _You were going to put out tonight?_

_Maybe,_ Renamon teased him. Terriermon smiled, then looked to their partners. Henry and Rika was sitting nearby, leaning back on their hands while sitting up to observe the game of tag, side by side.

_I'd have thought they'd have made a move on the other by now,_ said Terriermon. _They both saw, or felt, the attraction to the other when we were biomerged._

_Well, since you helped Takato and Jeri on their way, what's to stop you from helping them too?_

Terriermon did not have to ask her what she thought he should do. After all, everything she thought, appeared in his brain too now. It was still a very unusual sensation. Slipping momentarily off his mate's chest, he slunk forwards towards Henry and Rika, slipping behind their backs. Rika's left and Henry's right hands were side by side, as they leaned backwards.

Terriermon quickly lifted Henry's hand off the ground and replaced it so a couple of fingers were over Rika's and then quickly scarpered back to his previous position. Henry was surprised. So was Rika. She looked to Henry, going a little red in the face.

"Sorry," said Henry. "I was just... we well... it wasn't... you see... the thing is..."

"Henry."

"Yes?"

"Stop talking." Rika initiated the first kiss between the two.

_Wow, that was fast,_ said Terriermon. _I was expecting to have to do at least three other things first. But they just kicked off straight away._

_They are drawn to each other,_ said Renamon. _Like moths to a flame._

_Good metaphor, if a little old,_ agreed Terriermon.

Renamon smirked. Old, huh? Well, here's something new. I've never done this before.

Terriermon read her mind. "Uh-oh," he said, aloud. He attempted to jump out of the way, but Renamon's lightning-quick reflexes nabbed him from the air. She flipped him over and under her, pinning his ears under her knees, gently but firmly.

"Mercy!" yelled Terriermon, causing Henry and Rika to break their kiss and look around, looking at Renamon kneeling with Terriermon's ear under her and watched she brought down her paws and began to tickle the breath out of him, throwing in her furry tail as well.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" shrieked Terriermon. "STAAHAHAHAHOP IHIHIHIHIHIHIHT! THAHAHAHAT TICKCKCKCKCKCLES!"

"That's the idea," said Renamon, as her claws skittered over his navel and under his arms.

Eventually she stopped, leaving a wheezing and out-of-breath Terriermon. "I'm unconscious," said Terriermon after a bit. "I've gone into a coma."

"Oh dear," said Renamon playfully. "I better kiss you better!"

"That's the idea," said Terriermon and Renamon took her weight off his ears and proceeded to do just that.

"Well," said Henry. "I think it's safe to say that any doubts about the two of them being a couple are gone now."

"Yep," said Rika. "Now, where were we?"

"Guys," said Ryo, snapping everyone's attention away from whatever they were doing. "Ogudomon's on the move."

There was a scrambling as everyone quickly ran to the place where Ryo and Cyberdramon were standing. The entire of Tokyo had been flattened to the ground, every building crushed under Ogudomon's feet. From this distance the huge Demon Lord looked quite small, but he was visible.

"He's heading south," said Ryo. "On the course he's going his next major point of call will be Kanagawa, not including all the little places in between."

"I'm thinking now's a good time to call Yamaki," said Kazu.

"You do that," said Takato. "We need to try and slow him down a little."

"There he goes again," said Terriermon. "Rushing into things."

"But he's right nevertheless," said Henry. "We can't beat this guy, so we may as well just do our best to occupy him while Yamaki gets some his friends on the job."

"Fine, let's do this," said Rika, slipping one of her hands around Henry's.

_Shame I'm not tall enough for us to do that,_ thought Terriermon.

_Does it matter? I prefer picking you up. It's more intimate._

_You're very blunt, aren't you?_

_Yes._

"Let's do this then," sighed Henry, and for the second time that day four voices rang out:

"BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!"

"**Guilmon biomerge to … Gallantmon!"**

"**Terriermon biomerge to … MegaGargomon!"**

"**Renamon biomerge to … Sakuyamon!"**

"**Cyberdramon biomerge to … Justimon!"**

"**Impmon warp-digivolve to … Beelzemon Blast Mode!"**

"Digi-modify! Matrix digivolution activate!"

"**Lopmon matrix-digivolve to … Antylamon!"**

"Call Yamaki now," said Gallantmon, as he took off and flew towards the distant Ogudomon, at the head of the small army of Digimon.

"I wish they wouldn't do this," said Ai, watching the retreating back of Beelzemon. "It makes me worried that I'll never see them again."

"Don't worry," said Jeri, rubbing the top of Ai's head.

Suzie watched as Antylamon bounded away. She remembered the time where she had gone at speed like that for the first time. If Antylamon was killed, or deleted as they said, she would not be able to live. She didn't have a clue how Jeri had managed to last with her own partner.

* * *

"Back again," said Ogudomon in his horrible dual tone, as he found his way suddenly blocked by a wall of Digimon, of which the tallest was just over half his size. "You failed spectacularly last time, and that was with all those buildings to drop on my head, but as you can see, all those have been pulverised. What makes you think you can take me this time."

"Nothing in particular, but we're not gonna fight all the same," said Justimon.

"Why do you Digimon seek to protect these humans? They are nothing but parasites to be wiped out."

"Watch who you're calling a parasite!" snapped Rika's half of Sakuyamon.

Ogudomon stared. "What is this? Humans and Digimon combining in a DNA digivolution? This is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of!"

"Old Zhuqs took a similar attitude," said Terriermon, "But he changed his mind. Mostly."

"I know there is no reasoning with you," said a deep voice. "But I will have my say anyway. I have not known these humans for very long, but I have found them to be even more diverse in their personalities and inventions then Digimon are in their forms. They are anything but parasites."

"Well said, GranKuwagamon," said Gryphonmon. "I agree."

"Anyone who sides themselves with this filth deserves to die!" said Ogudomon.

"Everyone who isn't a Demon Lord deserves to die in your book!" snarled Beelzemon, "excepting my good self."

"**ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"** Ogudomon rushed forward.

"**MEGA BARRAGE!" **countered MegaGargomon, and so began the second battle of the day.

This battle didn't seem to go that differently from the last one, except that this one didn't involve dropping buildings on his head. Bursts of double-teaming attacks came from all directions, slamming into Ogudomon and occasionally knocking him askew, while Ogudomon himself managed to miss just about everyone except the larger digimon. Plesiomon was almost hit by the melee attack, but countered with Shaking Pulse to knock his assailant back.

"I grow weary of this," said Ogudomon, calmly. "What do you seek to gain by this? You're just attacking me repeatedly and wearing yourselves out, while I remain no weaker than I was at the beginning of our first battle."

"Just shut your overlarge fanged mouth," said MetalSeadramon. **"RIVER OF POWER!"**

"I hope Yamaki's got things underway," said Justimon. "'Cause this guys, right. We aren't doing any damage to him at all. We won't last another half an hour at the rate this is going."

"He'll be doing it," said Antylamon. "All we can do is try our hardest." With that, her hands formed into axes and she charged forwards, as Ogudomon recovered from a Solar Roar thrown at him by Gryphonmon.

"Hey ugly!" she called, running right up the length of MetalSeadramon's back and bouncing off his head. "I got a nice present for you. It's called **BUNNY BLADES!" **She leapt upwards and slammed her axes into his head, pushing it down slightly, before she leapt upwards and to the side.

"Well I have something for you," sneered Ogudomon, unfazed by the assault of the vicious weapons. Once again, his legs swung upwards on its double joint and it caught Antylamon in the back. The bunny Deva screamed in shock and pain as the red claw dug into her back.

"ANTYLAMON!" cried MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon, but as they ran forward they knew it was too late. Ogudomon lifted a second leg and the foot lashed forwards to slam into the plummeting rabbit and send her flying backwards. She ploughed into the ground, creating a miniature valley. She glowed and shrank into a battered Lopmon.

But as Sakuyamon bent to cradle the comparatively small Digimon, several hearts stopped as a loud cry of, "NO! LOPMON!" went up from near the trees. Heads swivelled and there was Suzie, breathless and panting, having just run all the way from the Tamers retreat to here, worried for her partner.

"Ah," said Ogudomon. "My first kill of the day."

"No," moaned Lopmon from Sakuyamon's arms. "You can't."

Her voice was so quiet that Ogudomon didn't hear her, but it would have made no difference if he had. He stormed forwards and then shouted **"CATEDRAL!"**

"NO!" shouted Lopmon, this time much more coherently and threw herself out of Sakuyamon's grasp, ears outstretched shooting towards her partner.

"Run Suzie!" shouted Gallantmon, also running forwards, but he was not going to make it as top-speed and he knew it.

Lopmon's intent was to shield her partner with her own body, but she also knew it was no good. She had basically signed her deletion warrant and was on her way to the realm of Anubimon. She reached Suzie before the shockwave as both grabbed the other and braced for the impact that would undoubtedly kill them. But at least the would die together.

Or perhaps not.

For right at that point, light exploded from the D-Arc that Suzie had in her hand. Lopmon felt a surge of strength, one more powerful than anything that she had ever felt. Not even the sugar-rush Terriermon had once given her by making her feast on chocolate could compare to this. The words sprang to and past her mouth before she even realised that she'd said them.

"**LOPMON BIOMERGE TO …"**

The light fountained upwards and took a shape which raised two long arms and blocked the brunt of the attack. It was a massive form, almost the size of MegaGargomon, before they lowered to reveal a smiling white and pink face, and perched on it were two huge segmented ears, each with a ring around the base. A collar like that of a jester's hat adorned her neck. Her hands were huge and her legs quite small, but that didn't matter, as she levitated in the air. She announced her name:-

"**CHERUBIMON!"**

* * *

Ooh, a new biomerge. All I have to say for now, really. Keep reviewing.

* * *

Next time…

How will this new Mega affect the outcome of the battle.

* * *

Coming up:- **Chapter 16 : Mega Deva**


	16. Mega Deva

Let's see what the effect of Suzie and Lopmon biomerging will have upon this fight. A major development will happen in this chapter – but then again, something important happens in all of them now.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 16 :- Mega Deva**

* * *

"Holy f**k!" said the half of MegaGargomon that belonged to Terriermon.

"Language, Terriermon," said Henry.

"Language! You're talking about minding my language! Suzie's a frigging Mega Digimon now, not some child."

"She's still a child inside!"

"Cherubimon?" asked Gallantmon. "Isn't that Kerpymon from the Digimon Movie?"

"Hey, if she says she's Cherubimon, I believe her," said Sakuyamon.

Suzie, inside the Digi-core, opened her eyes and out of them, she saw that she was now level with MegaGargomon in terms of height. "What happened?" she asked. "Did I die? Am I floating off to heaven? Wow, this feels great?"

"No, Suzie," came the sound of Lopmon's voice. "You're still very much alive. We actually did it, Suzie. We biomerged. We have become one powerful Mega Digimon – I never thought it would happen."

"Wow," said Suzie again. Other words didn't seem to be able to describe what was going on, and even "wow" seemed inadequate. The strength that was flowing through her tiny body was immense. It felt like every nerve was jangling and on fire. She could take on the world.

"So what can we do?" she asked. "Can we shoot lasers like the knight-guy?"

"You already know the answer to that question if you think about it," said Lopmon. Suzie blinked, and then realized that she knew exactly what she could do. The idea was intoxicatingly weird. It was the sort of thing that little kids always dreamed of.

"Let's help my big brother," she said.

"Let's help them all," agreed Lopmon.

"How interesting," said Ogudomon in a low, menacing tone. "Cherubimon. I have to admit that this is impressive, to have one of the Great Angels." His eye narrowed. "But don't think that you'll be able to stop me."

"Well, I'm terrified," said Cherubimon, with no attempt to disguise her sarcasm. "Let's fight it out before we see make any assumptions shall we?"

"Suzie, stay out of it," said Henry.

"Henry, you're sister's a Tamer," said Rika. "She's reached the Mega Level. I think she can take care of herself now."

"She's right, Henry," said Terriermon. "Not that we won't be there to back her up."

Cherubimon floated elegantly forward and approached Ogudomon with an almost casual smile on her face. But inside, they were privately talking.

"Suzie, I don't think we're going to be able to hurt him," said Lopmon. "But I know that we'll be able to hold him back for a good, long time."

"All right," said Suzie. "This is weird, going to fight like this."

"You should get used to it."

"You honestly believe you have a chance?" said Ogudomon, laughing with a sadistic edge. "That's just so naive of you. Let's just get this over with. I am impatient to kill something and I think it's gotta be you. **ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!" **

He charged forward, thrusting out his claws on one foot. Cherubimon extended her hands out, one in front of and one behind her, that one palm up. Suddenly, electricity crackled in this hand and extended outwards into a distinct long, thin weapon shape, clutched into Cherubimon's massive fist.

"**LIGHTNING SPEAR!"** she yelled and hurled it. The massive missile lanced forwards and it crackled into Ogudomon's head, pushing it backwards. Electricity sparked and crackled all around his body and he was thrown backwards.

"You possess great power," he said. "But not enough to harm me."

"Stop talking," said Cherubimon. "Your voice get's old real fast."

"This is weird," said Beelzemon. "You knew the little pink girlie could possess power like that."

"You think this is weird for you?" asked Mihiramon. "I've worked with Antylamon for years. She was the last of the Devas to be called into service and she is the first to reach the next level."

"If Zhuqiaomon could see this..." said Vajramon.

"...He would no doubt grouse," said Pajiramon. "But who cares. I think this is good. But our fellow Deva is battling. We must help."

"Renamon," said Terriermon. "We made a pact with Lopmon. Let's give her a helping hand."

"Nothing could prevent me from doing so," said Renamon.

"Count us in too," said Justimon. "Get him!"

"No! Stay away!" cried Cherubimon. The advancing group faltered.

"What? Why?" asked MegaGargomon. "We're your family, Suzie/Lopmon! Why don't you want our help?"

"I do," said Cherubimon, with an angelic smile. "But wait a minute. I might hit you by accident."

"Why do I get the feeling you're about to do something explosive," said Gallantmon.

"Maybe because I am," said Cherubimon.

"CHERUBIMON! BEHIND YOU!" yelled Mihiramon. Cherubimon whirled around in time to see a red-clawed leg skewer downwards towards her. She leapt backwards, but not fast enough to stop the claw from tearing a massive chunk out of her belly, which splintered instantly into data. Cries of shock and anger issued from the other Tamers and Digimon, while Cherubimon stared dumbly at the huge crater in her skin.

"You see," said Ogudomon. "You will fall like the rest of your brethren will eventually... What are you smirking at?"

It was true. Cherubimon had the world's biggest smirk on her face. She said nothing at all, but just stared defiantly at Ogudomon. Then, before his eyes, the wound began to heal at an extremely fast pace. New skin stretched over it and within five seconds, Cherubimon was whole again.

"Sorry to disappoint you," said Cherubimon. "But that is not going to work. My turn."

Her arms spread out wide and she called up to the sky, which was clear and blue, and almost cloudless. She cried out in a voice that the other Tamers and their own Digimon heard from far off. **"STORM OF JUDGEMENT!"**

Lightning bolts erupted downwards from the sky, seeming to form in thin air and plunged down around Ogudomon and Cherubimon, all of them missing the rabbit-angel and most of them striking the Demon Lord. Ogudomon roared under the barrage of bolts that impacted on his heads. It felt like he was being punched by at least five-hundred fists. He was forced quickly flat, unable to hold himself on his legs against the blows. Suddenly, the attack ceased, leaving the whole area around them smoking.

"Scratch that," said Cherubimon. "I flat out _would_ have hit you."

"That was awesome," said Beelzemon.

"My turn!" yelled MegaGargomon. "Let's see if I can beat that! **MEGA BARRAGE!"**

Ogudomon looked up as a second rain of attacks fell upon him and exploded on contact. Cherubimon flitted out of the way as the missiles launched. When the attack eventually cleared, the area was more than smoking – it was ablaze.

"I declare it a tie," said Sakuyamon.

Ogudomon got to his feet. "I am undamaged," he declared. "And I will remain forever undamaged. I shall never be defeated. Never!"

"Will you zip it!" roared Beelzemon. **"CORONA BLASTER!"**

And the battle began again in earnest. Neither side was giving any ground, and yet neither side was gaining any. Wave after wave of attacks launched itself on Ogudomon and every time Ogudomon attempted an attack of his own, his attempts were always avoided, or blocked by Sakuyamon, or everyone got behind the massive forms of MegaGargomon, Cherubimon or MetalSeadramon.

Occasionally someone would get injured. Sandiramon was eventually caught by a swinging foot and pile-driven through the ground, but then MarineAngemon would wing in and send healing heart-shaped bubbles at him, healing him up. If anything, Sandiramon came back with a stronger resolve that ever and threw his axe into the leg that had attacked him.

Jijimon and Babamon had a habit of latching onto Ogudomon's head and bashing at it with their staff and broom. This did very little against him, but it made them feel good doing it.

Other than that, this battle seemed to be taking a very similar course to the one earlier, with each Digimon alternating between a quick, sharp physical assault and then something to do with their attacks. Ogudomon launched his Catedral multiple times, but he was getting increasingly frustrated. He couldn't even beat these guys. Granted, they weren't beating him either, but even so – it was still extremely irritating.

This lasted a massive two hours long. It must have been one of the longest Digimon battles in history. But eventually the result was the same as before – the Digimon began to tire out again rapidly. Cherubimon was the freshest and she kept sending the electric bolts towards Ogudomon with the same vigour as ever.

But it was too much. One by one, the Digimon under the Mega level collapsed of apathy. As they did so, Justimon or Beelzemon would swoop in and grab them, taking them to a safe location.

"I hope Yamaki has gotten everyone out," said Sakuyamon. "We are not going to last here much longer." She quickly raised a shield as Ogudomon futilely launched a leg at her.

"Well, we're gonna have to find out," said Gallantmon. "Can somebody go to the others and ask if the way is clear of humans yet?"

"I shall go," said Gryphonmon, before turning and shooting towards the rise where the other Tamers were watching this battle from afar, unable to make out much of what was going on.

"You just said that to get away from the fighting," said the green tail.

"You don't know me," said Gryphonmon.

"On the contrary..."

"...Why couldn't I have come to life after the Shining Digivolution? I much preferred my more peaceful life when I was Hippogryphonmon. I didn't have you yacking behind me all the time."

"This is getting monotonous."

"So is your voice."

* * *

Kenta was the first to spot the black shape heading towards them. "Hey look guys," he said. "It's Gryphonmon. What's he doing here?"

"I don't know," said Kazu. "But it can't be good."

Gryphonmon landed at a high speed and had to run several metres in order to slow his momentum and make sure he didn't fall flat on his beak. Then he fixed Jeri, the most sensible one in his opinion, with one beady eye and asked, "How goes the progress of the evacuation?"

"The... oh, I completely forgot," Jeri's hands flew to her mouth.

"Oh typical," said the tail. "We leave you in charge and gnfhrn mgghhr mmndh..." and so on and so on.

"That's better," Gryphonmon had decided to shut his tail up by sitting on it. Beside him, Kazu pulled out his phone and quickly called Yamaki.

"Come on," he urged the ringing. "Pickuppickuppickuppickup... hey, Yamaki, it's Kazu here."

"**What do you want?"**

"Just wanna check up on the evacuation process. The battle's not going too well at the moment from what we can see."

"It might be going a lot worse had it not been for that Suzie kid," said Gryphonmon.

"Suzie?" asked Ai and Mako, looking around. For the first time, they noticed that Suzie was not with them. They had been so intent on the battle they had not seen her slip away.

"Yes, she and her partner – the Lopmon – they just biomerged, or at least I think that's the word."

"What!" yelled Kazu. "Are you telling me that I got beaten to it by a little girl?"

"**If you're quite finished."**

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Kazu.

"**The evacuation is almost complete,"** said Yamaki.** "We've only got a few hundred more people to get out of the way."**

"Well hurry it up, Chumley, before they all get whupped out there."

"**..."**

"Hello? Have I lost the signal?"

"**What did you call me?"**

"Chuml- oops. Sorry." Kazu quickly hung up. Gryphonmon rolled his eyes. "It's almost done," related Kazu. "You could probably back off now."

Gryphonmon nodded, then took to the wing. He decided the best course of action was to ignore the angry jabbering that his tail was doing.

* * *

"**HYDRO IMPACT CRUSHER!"** roared Plesiomon.

"**X-SCISSOR CLAW!"** bellowed GranKuwagamon.

The two attacks pummelled the side of Ogudomon, but the Demon Lord Mega was getting better at maintaining his balance, even though it looked messy when he threw out his legs to prop himself up.

"**GIGA ICE BLAST!"**

"**LIGHTNING JOUST!"**

"**JUSTICE BURST!"**

"**AMETHYST WIND!"**

The four new attacks hit him, but Ogudomon just laughed.

Gryphonmon swooped low and landed beside Gallantmon. The knight turned to him and Gryphonmon nodded his head. There was no sense shouting this out for all to hear. If they did Ogudomon might just change direction.

"Retreat!" yelled Gallantmon. "Let's fall back again!"

"I'll hold him off a little while longer," said Cherubimon.

"But-"

"No, Henry," said Suzie. "I'm doing this."

"Come on, Henry," said Sakuyamon. "Let's go pick up the others." MegaGargomon nodded and took off in a boost of rockets, to land beside the fallen Guardromon and Mihiramon. He carefully picked them up with one hand and carried them off. Sakuyamon lifted up the other three Devas by encasing them in a bubble-sphere and commanding it to follow them.

Cherubimon grappled with two of Ogudomon's legs, and with a wrenching move, grabbed two of them in one arm and clutched them together. Wildly attempting to maintain his balance, Ogudomon's other nearest leg lashed out to catch himself and as it passed it caused a deep gash to appear in Cherubimon's arm, which healed itself over.

"I feel so cool," said Suzie. "I'm two of the X-men at once. Storm and Wolverine."

"Well at least we don't have claws sprouting from our fingers," said Lopmon.

"Yeah, that would be painful."

"Of course!" yelled Lopmon. "Suzie, I have an idea."

Suzie, being one with Lopmon, did not have to ask what it was. "Oh yeah," she said. "I learned about this in science last week."

Cherubimon released her grip and floated upwards quickly, spinning in a majestic, almost peaceful way. As she passed Ogudomon's legs, she grasped in one huge hand, a particular object. It was one of the swords that was stuck in each leg above the knee. With a wrench she pulled it loose and Ogudomon roared in pain.

Cherubimon then flung the sword forwards and embedded it in Ogudomon's head. Then she brought one arm back.

"**LIGHTNING SPEAR!"**

The massively charged weapon struck the sword and channelled the volts of electricity straight into Ogudomon's head. Then, it exploded. Ogudomon slumped to the floor and groaned, feeling like he'd had the inside of his head smashed by many feet.

Cherubimon took opportunity of his momentarily dazed state to slip away, following the retreating backs of the other Tamers. She relished in the feeling of power that she now had. Finally, she matched the others. Suzie felt proud. Now she felt like a proper Tamer.

* * *

"Who the heck is that?" asked Kazu.

"Who do you think?" said Kenta, excitedly, pointing up at the biomerged form of Suzie and Lopmon. "It's Kerpymon."

"No," said Gallantmon, landing beside them. "It's Cherubimon. Say it with me – "Cher-oo-bee-mon!"

"You don't have to patronise us," said Kazu. "But it's Kerpymon in the movie isn't it?"

"Yes, well, in the movie, all Lopmon's digivolutions were also male," said Sakuyamon.

There were flashes of light as the Digimon began to de-digivolve. Cherubimon was the last to do so, because Suzie was quite enjoying the feeling of being taller than everyone else for a change. But eventually, she also shrank and split into two little forms.

Kazu then spotted Guardromon was just regaining consciousness and ran over to him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel a little like I've lost a couple of bolts, but apart from that I feel fresh as a daffofil."

"Guardromon, do you know something?"

"What?" asked the robot.

"Well, what with this whole thing that just happened between Suzie and her partner Lopmon, and the biomerging and all, that means we're the only Tamer and Digimon partner that have not yet managed to do it."

Kazu looked genuinely depressed, which shocked Guardromon slightly. His partner was usually either upstanding and slightly arrogant, frustrated, or extremely scared. These were generally the only sides of him that Kazu ever really expressed.

"Fear not my Tamer," said Guardromon. "I'm sure that a day will come, probably quite soon with what's going on, when we will finally become one being and do some serious kick-butting of our own."

"Yeah, but when?" asked Kazu. "In all fairness I thought that I would manage to do it before Suzie. Does this mean I'm not a competent Tamer?"

"Don't say that," insisted Guardromon. "You know who you're beginning to sound like?"

Kazu didn't answer, puzzled.

"This is the sort of thing that Takato used to do if I am told correctly – forever wondering if they're competent enough. I believe that if you were not up to the challenge, you and I would never have become partners in the first place."

Kazu smiled. "Thanks bud."

"Mention it not."

"Right then, let's try biomerging?"

"Now?"

"Yes now. Biomerge activate!"

Nothing happened.

"Er, perhaps we need to be in a battle situation," suggested Guardromon. "I'll see if I can convince Ryo and Cyberdramon to bring you along and then whip you out of the way if need be."

"Okay," said Kazu.

* * *

Mihiramon stood up and said walked over to Lopmon. He looked down at her solemnly. Then he said, "I congratulate you on your digivolution."

"Thank you, Mihiramon," said Lopmon. "I appreciate it."

"You do realise what it means don't you?" asked Mihiramon.

Lopmon looked blank. "Er, no."

"The Devas are supposed to be Digimon that can reach the Ultimate level," said Mihiramon. "And when I say the Ultimate level, I mean no higher. You, Lopmon, have reached Mega. The last ties you had to the Sovereigns have been severed."

Lopmon's eyes widened. "Is that important?" she asked.

"Well, that I am not sure about," said Mihiramon. "But the Sovereign did not specifically create us all, you know. No, what he did was he went around to search for Digimon that were still Digi-Eggs and he'd then indentify what was inside and what their Ultimate form would be. Then he raised you to have loyalty only to him. He didn't let you mingle with other Digimon besides his servants and he used the Ancient Ones on each of us. As long as we are faintly tied to his service, we have no obligations we used to have. Of course, you can gain new ones," here Mihiramon nodded towards Suzie, "as you did, but if you had any old ties that Zhuqiaomon smothered, they may reawaken."

Lopmon stared at him. Hoe had he come by this information when she had not. She had been bound to him by the magic of an Ancient One? And Mihiramon knew?

As if he'd read her mind, the tiger said, "I was not privy to this information either until I joined Azulongmon. It was him who told me this."

"Ah," said Lopmon. Then she frowned. Something was happening. During this little declaration on the part of Mihiramon, and during the conflict with Ogudomon, she had noticed nothing. But now, faintly, oh so faintly, she could hear voices.

And not just the general talking going on around her.

_I think on the whole that went rather well._

_Indeed. Only the possibility of several-hundred more encounters like that to go. We may run out of luck eventually._

_All positive, aren't you Rena? Momentai, we can do this._

_There's almost nothing that can keep you down is there?_

_Oh, I wouldn't say that. If I lost you or Henry or Loppy or Suzie for instance..._

_Don't go down that road, Terriermon. Things wouldn't feel right if you became depressed._

_Well maybe I just need cheering up. Care to oblige?_

_You are insatiable._

_And you aren't?_

_...What's that phrase you use to express you've got someone good with that argument?_

_Touché?_

_That's the one._

Lopmon blinked. She looked over at Renamon and Terriermon during the second half of what she was hearing. They were looking at each other, but they weren't moving their mouths at all. After a couple of seconds, she remembered what Renamon had said about the telepathic link between the two of them. But it was just between the two of them.

Wasn't it?

Apparently not. Were they aware that they had an eavesdropper? It didn't seem so.

_So, what were you planning for tonight?_ Terriermon's face definitely brightened as he thought it.

Renamon's eyes narrowed slightly. _Well, first off, I thought that our next go round could have little additional..._

Ack! She didn't want to hear this. Lopmon did not particularly want to go into details of what Renamon and Terriermon did in their alone time. She covered her ears with her tiny hands.

It took her a couple of seconds to realise that this wasn't going to do any good at all.

It took her a couple more seconds to realise that Renamon had stopped talking.

Or had she? She looked up. Renamon and Terriermon were still staring at each other, and yet what they had been saying was not entering her mind. What was going on? She withdrew her hands from her ears, bemused.

It was as if she'd pressed an off button. After a couple of minutes, hoping that the subject of the conversation had changed, she opened her mind. Instantly the voices of her two best Digi-friends filled her brain again.

_...Sounds exotic,_ Terriermon was saying – thinking – whatever. _I can't wait. You reckon we could slip off unnoticed?_

_Shouldn't be too difficult. We just need to mind Guardromon and some of these other Megas._

_Just for the record, how many nights a week are we planning to do this?_

_This might be the last night for a while. We may need to use these nights to gather our strength from hear-on-in. But, perhaps if we get a relief day..._

Lopmon thought, loudly and very slowly, _Hello?_

The affect was instant and, it had to be said, quite funny. Both Renamon and Terriermon practically leapt out of their skin and sprang to their feet, looking wildly around them. Bizarre looks were cast their way by the others present. Renamon caught her cool first and waved a paw, as if to say that there was nothing wrong, go back to what you were doing.

_Sorry,_ thought Lopmon. _I was just testing it out._

_Loppy?_

_Lopmon?_

_Who else?_

The heads of Renamon and Terriermon swung her way as she approached. They both blinked a couple of times before Terriermon said, aloud, "Er, how much of that ... conversation ... did you hear?"

"I shut out that particular part of it when I saw where it was going," said Lopmon. Terriermon looked relieved. Renamon looked absolutely confused.

"I don't understand," said Renamon. "How is it that you were able to hear what I was saying? I was shielding the conversation from Rika – the only person that I thought would be able to hear it. But you too?"

"I don't know," shrugged Lopmon. "One moment I was talking to Mihiramon, and the next I was hearing you guys inside my head."

"How strange," said Renamon. "I have never heard of this before. The bond between a Renamon and her mate should mean that their conversations are impenetrable to everyone unless they have a special connection with someone else, like I to Rika, but even then I am able to shield my thoughts from her if need be."

"Well, don't beat yourself up about it," said Terriermon. "Momentai. How were you supposed to know that Lopmon would suddenly become a psychic?"

Renamon frowned. "Even so I should have been more careful."

Lopmon flicked her chin repeatedly with a small finger, then raised her ear as if answering a question that a teacher had asked the class. "Perhaps it has something to do with my recent biomerge."

Renamon looked thoughtful. "It's possible. Ogudomon called the result, Cherubimon, one of the Great Angels."

"Oh, yeah," Terriermon snapped his fingers. "You think the Great Angels have the ability to read the minds of others?"

"Maybe," said Renamon. Her eyes scanned the group talking around them, then she glanced to Lopmon and nodded towards Guilmon. "Try and read Guilmon's mind."

"Oh, you don't need to be a psychic to know that," laughed Terriermon, clearing his throat and putting on a very accurate impersonation of Guilmon's voice. "Bread. Tag. Takatomon. Bread. Bakery. Bread. I wonder if Calumon will play with me. Bread. More bread. Guilmon bread. Bread."

Lopmon and Renamon snorted. "All the same," snickered Lopmon behind one ear. "I'll try. I might be able to hear something."

Lopmon stared at the back of Guilmon's head. Her eyes screwed up in concentration and she put all of her willpower into trying to read the mind of the dinosaur. But she got nothing whatsoever. All she heard was the faint sound of his voice in her ears, not her mind. She looked to the others and shook her head.

"Okay, so you aren't a psychic," Terriermon muttered.

"Then there is only one other explanation," said Renamon. "You have some kind of special connection to either myself or Terriermon – one that we may have overlooked."

"I don't see how I'm connected to either of you. It's not like I've, done it," her she used her finger like quotation marks, "with Terriermon, and I'm sure if I had then that wouldn't have happened. And I fail to see why I'd have a special connection to you, Renamon, or you Terriermon. Unless..."

What Mihiramon had said flooded into her mind. "Unless I had an attachment to either of you before I went into service with Zhuqiaomon."

"What?" Terriermon asked. Carefully, Lopmon explained what the tiger had said about her last links to Devahood being separated.

As they digested this, Renamon said, "Try and read our thoughts now and I'll try and block you off."

Lopmon nodded and opened her mind. _Fribble,_ said Renamon.

_Fribble?_ Asked Terriermon. _What kind of word is that?_

"I have to agree with Terriermon there," said Lopmon.

"So you could still hear us?" mused Renamon. "Try again, and this time, you try blocking her Terriermon."

"Er, how do I do that?"

"Just think that you don't want her to hear what you're thinking and keep that thought in your mind," said Renamon.

Lopmon concentrated again, and this time she was met by a wall of silence. "Nope, nothing," she said.

"Good," said Renamon, glaring at her mate. "That was highly inappropriate."

"What?" demanded Terriermon.

"It would appear that your special connection is with Terriermon," said Renamon. "And it probably came about before you were called into service."

"But I've been in service to the Sovereign since before I hatched," said Lopmon. "What could I have... oh."

"What?" said Renamon and Terriermon together. Lopmon's eyes had widened. She looked to Terriermon.

"You remember that conversation we had the night you returned from your little ... kidnapping?" she asked.

Terriermon's forehead furrowed and then he said, "Oh yeah, we talked about being.............. oh."

"Indeed," said Renamon, not having to ask about what was going on.

"This sounds like something Takato might say," said Lopmon. "But is it possible that the Digimon Movie got something right? That Terriermon and Lopmon are siblings? I mean they got a lot of other things wrong, like the Lopmon gender but... could we really be brother and sister?"

Terriermon's eyes were very wide. "Siblings? For real?"

"Maybe," said Lopmon. She looked around. Who would... aha! She ran forward.

"Sandiramon?" she called. The recovering snake Deva looked around at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You have a good memory," said Lopmon. "Did Zhuqiaomon ever say anything about the time where he found my Digi-Egg?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Sandiramon.

"Personal reasons," said Lopmon.

"Well, he generally sent Makuramon on mission to find other Devas. He and I were around the longest. Makuramon said that on the trip where they went to find someone suitable for guard duty, he found two eggs side by side. He said he chosen the one that was more calm-minded as an individual. He said the other one would have gotten restless and blown things up."

Blown things up? An image of Rapidmon firing a missile from one of his bazooka-like arms flashed into her mind. "Anything else?" she queried.

Sandiramon frowned. "Well, he said that while you're Digi-egg was brown flecked with pink, the other Digi-Egg was..." He stopped. He had just noticed Renamon and Terriermon staring intently at this conversation, and he suddenly realised what Lopmon was getting at. "...White flecked with green."

Lopmon looked shocked, then thoughtful, then delighted. "Thank you," she yelled, running back to Renamon and Terriermon. Terriermon was about to say "Well?" when he was cut off as Lopmon threw her arms around his neck and gave him a Suzie-death-grip style hug, only not quite so fierce.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," smiled Renamon. "Remarkable. Perhaps it was no coincidence that the two of you became the partners of siblings after all."

Terriermon returned the hug with enthusiasm. "Wow, I actually have a sister. Someone else with a connection to me. We're even now, Rena. We both have two people with connections to us."

"I have heard it said," said Renamon. "That with twin Digimon, whatever one has the ability to do, the other can do too. That includes reachable levels and some other things. This does explain it. Terriermon got a Tamer, so you did too. Terriermon could biomerge so you did too. They're linked. And perhaps, thanks to being a Great Angel, a magical being like my own digivolved forms, you could form a telepathic bond with those closest to you, like I could with Rika. You may find, Lopmon, that you might have your own ability to communicate with Suzie."

"Then we'd all three of us, have two people who could read our minds."

"But you can conceal things from each other," pointed out Renamon. "Whereas we cannot."

"Well, all round, despite the trashing of Tokyo, today's been a good day for me," said Terriermon. "I've learned that I have a sister."

Lopmon and Terriermon looked like they were about to break the hug, when suddenly both were enveloped by Renamon's arms and lifted into the air. "And I've learned I have a sister-in-law, as it were."

There were tears of happiness running down Lopmon's face. "This has got to be the happiest moment of my life," said Lopmon.

"So," said Terriermon. "How do we tell the others?"

"And when?" asked Lopmon.

"Oh, let's do it now," said Terriermon. "There's nothing embarrassing about this, and am I the only one who'd like to see Takato faint again?"

"Hey, Henry," said Terriermon, striding up to his Tamer, if striding was the right word with such short legs. His Tamer looked around, from where he had been talking with Suzie about the responsibilities of being a Tamer, to which Suzie was looked excruciatingly bored. Rika was also hovering nearby.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet," said Terriermon, a familiar grin on his face that Henry had learnt meant he was struggling not to laugh.

"Who?" he asked warily, wondering if Terriermon was about to try some kind of practical joke on him.

"I'd like you to meet my sister," Terriermon practically chirped.

Henry, Suzie and Rika all blinked as Lopmon stepped up next to Terriermon, identical to him in almost all aspects. "What?" asked Henry.

"Surprised me too," said Terriermon.

"Are you serious?" asked Suzie.

_Yes, Suzie, we are._

Suzie looked around. "Who said that?"

"Who said what?" asked Rika.

"I said that," said Lopmon. "It looks like Renamon was right. I do have a connection with you, Suzie, like the one that Renamon has with Rika."

"Of course I was right," said Renamon's voice from up in the tree.

"You just keep coming out with these surprises," said Henry. "First your mate... er, married," he glanced at Suzie, who had not noticed his slip-up. "To Renamon, and now you're brother to Lopmon as well? Who told you this?"

"Well, the fact that we now have a telepathic connection was a clue," said Terriermon, "Plus Sandiramon said that our Digi-Eggs were found together when Lopmon's was taken to serve."

Rika smiled. "You're family's growing at an extremely fast rate, Terriermon," she said.

"Well, I am a rabbit," quipped Terriermon. "Anyway, I really considered Loppy a sister already."

"Do I have to call you Terriery now?" asked Lopmon.

"Nah, doesn't have the same ring to it," said Terriermon. "How about – The Rabbit of Doom!"

Lopmon gave Terriermon a playful shove.

"You know," said Henry. "I can't help feeling a little out of the loop here."

"How do you mean?" asked his partner.

"Well, you, Lopmon, Renamon, Rika and Suzie all have at least one person that they can speak to with their minds. Not me. The odd one out of this, er, Super Six."

"Super six?" Terriermon raised an eyebrow. "What are we? A team of superheroes?"

Renamon dropped from the tree and placed a paw on Henry's shoulder. "There are many secrets of the Digital World," she consoled him. "You may one day form the ability to communicate with your own partner without the use of your mouth."

"Yeah," said Terriermon. "Maybe after you and Rika have had wild..."

"SUZIE'S STANDING RIGHT HERE!" bellowed Henry.

"Momentai, you didn't really think that I was gonna say the "s" word did you?"

"What's the "s" word?" asked Suzie, curiously.

"When you're older."

"I'm getting tired of you saying that Henry."

"Come on," said Terriermon. "Let's tell the others." He leapt up onto the rock. "Hey guys! I've got something to tell you all. I have just discovered that Loppy here, is actually, and I mean this, my sister."

Silence.

Then...

Yep, you guessed it.

Takato fainted.

* * *

So, how many people saw that one coming. The bunnies really _are_ siblings. Thanks to TimTah and Eqgz for their reviewers, as well as to all the usual people who review for my story.

* * *

Next time…

Will Kazu be able to biomerge with Guardromon? Will Ogudomon make any further advances? How will this new development between the bunnies affect everything?

* * *

Coming up:- **Chapter 17 : Three**


	17. Three

I know what you're thinking. Surely, I should have had a lot of time to update this story during half-term, but unfortunately school decided to be mean and give us flipping loads of homework, and with my parents out over three-quarters of the time, I was not allowed to go on the computer for any of that time, as I had to watch one of the dogs, who had injured her leg and kept trying to chew it off. Anyway, here I am again, with the next chapter. Only three more after this.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 17 :- Three**

* * *

Night had fallen, and the majority of the group were asleep. But not all, and I don't just mean Guardromon. Terriermon lay on his back in the woods, panting heavily and limbs spread out across the ground. Renamon lay curled around him, almost like a real fox, her tail providing a sort of duvet for the rabbit that she had just made love to, and her head a mere few inches from his own. Silence hung over them like an umbrella.

"If you had said, when we first met, that this would ever happen," murmured Terriermon, his eyes shut.

"You say that every time," Renamon gently moved her tail, caressing Terriermon with it, causing him to giggle lightly as the fur tickled under his arms.

"That's because it's still mind-blowing," said the bunny. "You and me. Me and you. Either way you put it, it sounds strange."

"I like strange," said Renamon, her finger coming down and tracing little circles around the horn on Terriermon's head with her claw. "But you are right. And wouldn't it be even stranger if one day I decided not to insert the Renamon self-contraception technique. What would Rika and Henry say?"

Terriermon opened his eyes and he looked towards the eyes of his mate. "What would Loppy say?"

Renamon smiled. "Aunt Lopmon." She chuckled. "It has a slight ring to it."

"I know," said Terriermon. "And imagine if she found a mate and had young of her own. I'd be Uncle Terriermon."

"Now, _that_ does _not_ sound right," said Renamon. "And that is actually a thought. Of all of us, we are the only ones to have actually mated. I wonder who, if ever, the others might decide to settle down with."

"Maybe we should go find some random male digimon, beat him up until he returns to Rookie form and then lock whatever we get in a room with Lopmon."

"Now that's cruel."

"I know, but still, that's one of the things that brought us together."

"True. But I wouldn't go entirely that far."

"What, tie Lopmon to a post and glue the male to her chest? That wouldn't work if we tried. Lopmon is a lot smaller than you are. She might be squished. And I'm not a sicko like that Goro."

Renamon bristled. "You're going to do that every time I say his name aren't you?" asked Terriermon.

"Who wouldn't if they learnt what he'd been planning to do to them? I'm lucky he didn't delve into statistics." He eyes softened and she looked to Terriermon. "Listen Terriermon, I meant what I said before. One day, perhaps, in the future, we may have a child of our own. It is a possibility that I am willing to explore further."

Terriermon frowned. "I wonder what the result would be."

"Terriermon," prompted Renamon. The bunny looked up. Renamon was looking at him searchingly now, and Terriermon could see that she wanted to know whether he would be okay with that or not. In truth, the thought had not really gone through his head, except during a moment of panic after their first night. He paused to consider the options. He didn't feel he was ready for fatherhood, but Renamon said that he was. And now he thought about it, he'd done a good job of taking care of someone who didn't like people taking care of her, so how hard could it be with a little thing that did.

"Well, we should at least wait until this whole thing with Ogudomon sorts itself out," he said.

"Of course," said Renamon. "This situation is not an ideal one for babies to be born in."

"And we should wait for Henry and Rika to grow a little as well, I think," said Terriermon. "I think they're at that stage where it might be difficult to cope with a baby in their lives. If we applied all our attentions to a baby digimon as we might need to do, they might think we're forgetting them."

"Good thinking. They're both thirteen now aren't they? So, we should wait until they're at least sixteen, where they should be mature enough to cope with it."

"They're pretty mature for their age as it is. Perhaps we could push it down to fifteen if you wanted."

Renamon smiled. "You think of everything, don't you?"

"Hey, I do pick up _some_ stuff from Henry. I just don't show it often."

"Very well then," said Renamon, "We'll wait a couple of years. Now, come here."

Renamon's tongue extended out of her mouth in a most un-Renamon-like way. "As the song goes," grinned Terriermon. "We're getting ready for the next go round." He extended his own tongue and then touched them together, causing a giggle for both of them, then they pushed forward and began French kissing.

"So you eat the tongue first?" asked an extremely curious and easily recognisable voice.

With a loud noise, Renamon and Terriermon pulled apart and shouted different things at the same time:-

"Don't spy on people, Guilmon!" cried Renamon.

"How the hell did you get there without me hearing you?" hollered Terriermon.

The red dinosaur was standing beside a large tree and watching them talking, head coked to one side, the expression of curiosity changed to slight hurt and his ears drooped. He was not one who liked to be shouted at, because for him it usually ended up with something bad, like the time where Takato had shouted at him for something that Impmon had done.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"S'alright," said Terriermon, getting to his feet, "but next time, don't."

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Renamon, hoping that we would say "Not long."

"Not long," said Guilmon. Renamon sighed in relief. They'd already had one scaly digimon witness them in mid-intercourse. They didn't need another.

"Listen," said Terriermon. "We do not eat one another's tongues or faces," he explained. "If we did, we would be in agony and not enjoying ourselves very much. It's called kissing. Perfectly normal for couples, but at least we tend to do it away from prying eyes, unlike some people."

"How does it work?"

Terriermon sighed. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out, Guilmon. Place mouth to mouth of another person. If you choose then insert tongue."

"Oh," Guilmon said, still looking confused. "Can I try?"

"NO!" shouted two Digimon at once. Guilmon stepped back, looking hurt. Renamon sighed, got up and walked over to him.

"Guilmon, kissing another on the lips is something that I reserve only for Terriermon. No-one else."

"Not even Rika?"

"Especially not Rika," said Renamon. "Terriermon is a boy. Rika is a girl. Most people tend to do it with the opposite gender only. Not all, but most. And Terriermon is my mate and that gives him the special privilege."

"She's right," said Terriermon. "The same goes for me as well. Only Rena gets them from me. One day, you may find yourself a bird and you can kiss her all you like, just preferable when I'm not there?"

"A bird?" asked Guilmon. "Does it have to be a bird?"

"He means a girl," said Renamon.

"There are no boy birds?"

"Forget birds," said Terriermon. "Just pretend that I said girl instead."

"Oh, okay."

"Why are you here anyway?" asked Renamon. "You didn't deliberately come here to spy on us did you?"

"No," Guilmon shook his head. "I woke up and there was a strange smell in the air, so I went to find out what it was, and I can smell it now. It's all over you now." He sniffed Renamon.

"Don't do that," she said, placing a paw over his nose.

"Why not?" he asked, sounding like he had a cold, because his nostrils were blocked by Renamon's paw.

"Most people would consider that to be rather like a pervert," said Renamon.

"What's that mean?"

"Look, I am not going to be the one that introduces Guilmon to sex education," said Terriermon. "I don't think Takato's had that yet."

Guilmon looked from one to the other, bemused.

"Well, he has to start somewhere," said Renamon. "And we have experience. Alright Guilmon, when a boy meets a girl..."

* * *

"WHAT A SPLENDID PIE!

PIZZA PIZZA PIE!

EVERY MINUTE, EVERY SECOND!

BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY!

WHAT A SPLENDID PIE!

PIZZA PIZZA PIE!

EVERY MINUTE, EVERY SECOND!

BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY!"

Terriermon was bouncing up and down as the song played – it had rapidly become one of his favourites. It was early morning, and he had decided that all those who had not woken up yet needed a loud wake-up call, so Chic n Stu was playing loudly again. He had been joined by his bouncing by Impmon and Calumon, the three of them a complete mess of limbs thrashing about and no thought to the tune, except on the "BUY"'s when Terriermon would thrash his ears like he was banging on a drum with them.

"Look at them," Plesiomon was saying. "It would be crazy if we could do stuff like that."

"Missing the old days of being a Gomamon?" asked Gryphonmon.

"Just a little bit," said the massive plesiosaur.

"You should go over there, Renamon," said Rika, smiling. "Teach Terriermon how to dance. There's a summer dance coming up at school later this year and we can bring guests. Maybe you two should come along."

"Oh, I would pay to see a six foot tall fox dance with a foot-and-a-half tall rabbit," said Kazu. "That would be the ultimate "Beauty and the Beast.""

"But which one's which?" asked Kenta. The two boys laughed, but they had chosen a very unfortunate place to do so. Renamon looked over their shoulders at the Digimon standing behind them and said, "Would you do the honours?"

*CLONK*

Kazu and Kenta were sent sprawling at a light tapping blow given to the back of their head by Cyberdramon. "Thank you," said Renamon.

"I still say we need to get you in a dress," said Suzie.

"I'd rather leave that to Rika's mother," said Renamon.

"Good idea. I'll ask her to find one your size."

"Er, that is not exactly what I meant," said Renamon, ignoring the laughter around her. She pointedly switched her attention back to Terriermon and his antics. She saw that he and Impmon were now doing the air-guitar and singing, or rather yelling, at the tops of their voices, almost drowning out the original singer:-

"WE'RE GOING OFF TONIGHT!

TO KICK IN EVERY LIGHT!

TAKE ANYTHING WE WANT!

DRINK EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!

WE'RE GOING 'TIL THE WORLD STOPS TURNING,

WHILE WE BURN IT TO THE GROUND TONIGHT!"

"Oh, go on Renamon," said Lopmon. "I dare you to get out there and dance with him."

"As a sister-in-law, I'd advise you to take that back," said Renamon, not unkindly and in a joking fashion.

"Well why not," smiled Lopmon. "You're mate likes bouncing around and dancing, so perhaps you should try it."

"They'd laugh at me."

"And? Nothing happens when people laugh at you. It's not like you die if someone laughs at you. Just get out there and enjoy yourself. Like this-"

With that, Lopmon actually got up and vaulted over Terriermon's head, beginning to bounce around beside him.

"Ticking like a time bomb, drinking 'til the night's gone,

Get your hands off of this glass, last call, my ass,

No chain, no lock, and this train won't stop,

We got no fear, no doubt, all in, balls out!"

And then began to chorus again.

"Wow," said Ryo. "I never thought Lopmon had it in her."

"Well, she does seem to be full of surprises lately doesn't she," observed Henry. "First biomerging, now this."

"Alright, fine," said Renamon. "I'll do it, but only if I get to pick the song."

Terriermon faltered, then grinned. "You mean it? Alright then, come on down. Your choice."

The humans watched with fascination as Renamon walked over, tail swishing. Lopmon, Impmon and Calumon all respectfully stepped aside to allow her access to the speakers and Ryo's ipod which had been connected to it.

_My claws aren't ideal for this,_ she informed Terriermon._ You scroll through it and I'll let you know._

_Okiday._

Terriermon looked through the list of artists and Renamon peered down over his small shoulder. Eventually she said, "There, I'll go with that."

"Fair enough," said Terriermon. Renamon moved away and Terriermon hit the centre button. Renamon began to move with fluid, snake-like motions, suggestively swinging her backside and thrusting with her hips, her tail wind-milling around. Her arms raised above her head like she was pole-dancing and her feet took graceful steps around as the song played.

"Bam, bam, bidam, bam, bam, bidam, bam,

"Bam, bam, bidam, bam, bam, bidam, bam,

"Bam, bam, bidam, bam, bam, bidam, bam,

"Bam, bam, bidam, bam, bam, bidam, bam,

No more gas, in the red, can't even get it started,

Nothing heard, nothing said, can't even speak about it,

On my life, on my head, don't wanna think about it,

Feels like I'm going insane, yeah."

"Renamon like Rihanna then," said Ryo, eyebrow raised. "Who knew?"

"Well, what did you expect, Lady Gaga?" asked Takato, laughing.

"Given her track record of five nights with Terriermon so far, I wouldn't have been surprised."

"Point."

"Look at her," said Jeri, as Renamon brought up one leg so the foot went well past her head. "She's a natural at this. I'd have expected her to be a little unsure of herself, but she's throwing herself into this role, like she was born to dance."

"She's better than some professionals that I have seen on the human watching box," said Guardromon.

"It's called a TV," said Kazu. "Oh, there goes Terriermon."

Terriermon had at first been bouncing around Renamon's feet, but now he was leaping and sliding _on_ Renamon herself, down limbs, somersaulting over her head from shoulder to shoulder, extending his ears and swooping around her belly. Renamon seemed to take instantly to this new factor and began to modify her dance to give Terriermon decent perches, occasionally snatching him out of the air with her tail and tossing him over her head into her waiting palm. Then it began to pick up in pace and the two began to flip around, Renamon spending half the time on her hands, still spinning and Terriermon leaping from shoulder to wrist to tail, through her legs to her head. It was flawless. They watched with awe as the two wove in between each other in an intricate and complicated routine that looked practiced to perfection, but was far from it. The truth behind it was they were just reading the minds of the other to discover what they were going to do next and adjusting accordingly.

It ended when Terriermon landed on one of Renamon's feet and the fox kicked up, launching him high, then flipping off from her hands and catching the falling rabbit in her arms. "BAZINGA!" said Terriermon, and the others applauded enthusiastically.

"Surreal," said MarineAngemon.

"Can I try it now? Can I? Can I? Can I?" begged little Calumon.

"I'd like to see you try and pull off something like that," sniggered Impmon.

Even Cyberdramon nodded respectfully, but other than that he remained his usual self.

Then Henry's phone rang. Everyone present turned towards the blue-haired boy as he pulled it out and with a sense of apprehension when he saw who it was that was calling him, answered. "Hello Yamaki."

Yamaki had called the previous evening to tell them that they should get as much rest as they could and that he would have the military monitor the progress of Ogudomon – from an extreme distance, of course – and he would update the Tamers if anything came up. It seemed that something probably had. Henry put it onto loudspeaker so he would not have to repeat whatever Yamaki was going to say.

"**We have a big problem. Progress with evacuation of areas is going much slower than hoped and I'm afraid that for some reason, Ogudomon has changed direction. He's heading west now and he'll encounter a city in less than half an hour at the rate he's going. We were already evacuating but we'll only be half-done by the time he gets here. Hurry!"**

"We're coming," Henry hit the Finish Call button.

"Great," muttered Impmon. "Are we gonna just fight our asses off constantly. Two fights yesterday. Another today. Trust me. We're gonna have three two-hour battles under our belts by six this evening."

"Don't doubt you Impmon," said Takato. "Well, here goes nothing. Let's see how much pounding we can give him this time. There's gotta be a way around that inhibitor of his."

"Only if you can purge yourself of all badness of any kind," said Henry. "And I think that's practically impossible. We're just gonna have to keep going for now. Maybe we can eventually kill him in some unorthodox way. I remember MetalSeadramon almost managed to choke him to death, so we wait until he's near the sea and try and force him down into to drown or something. Problem is – that may not happen for a while. He's heading inland."

"Why are we still here talking about it!" cried Kazu. "Come on, guys. Let's get going."

"You?" asked Rika.

"That's right. Suzie was able to biomerge with her partner and so I'm gonna try with mine. You're gonna need help."

"No use trying to argue with him," said Ryo. "I've already tried."

"Kazu, if you got killed..."

"Just shut up and let's go fight this guy," cried the now-annoyed kid.

"He has a point," said Terriermon. "Let's get underway."

"Fine," muttered Takato. Six flashes of light later, and the five biomerged digimon, alongside Beelzemon, lead the way towards the area they were supposed to be protecting. Guardromon allowed Kazu to climb on his broad, metallic shoulders and lifted off with his thrusters. But Guardromon was not quite as fast as the other digimon.

"Come on, Guardromon. We're falling behind."

"I know, Kazu, but we shall arrive eventually and we shall reach the Mega level at last. Do not worry yourself."

Kazu sighed and watched as the other shots on ahead, some of the ground-runners being carried by some of the larger airborne digimon.

"Full steam ahead!" cried Kazu.

"Steam is old-fashioned," said Guardromon. "I prefer electricity to kettle power."

* * *

By the time Kazu and Guardromon arrived on the battlefield, the fight was already in full swing. Kazu took a moment to watch the latest Mega fighting. Cherubimon was certainly good. Her lightning bolts would rain devastation on just about any other digimon. She was working in tandem with Plesiomon. The plesiosaur would shoot out water from his tail at Ogudomon, which Cherubimon would charge with her lightning.

Kazu noticed that one of the swords on Ogudomon's legs was missing and that it was embedded in his head. How the hell had that happened?

"Alright Guardromon," he said, turning to his partner. "This is it. Go time. Make or break. Follow the rainbow. Destiny awaits. No turning back. See it through to the end."

"Are you feeling alright, Kazu," the robot was giving him a peculiar look.

"Yeah, sorry, just got a little carried away there," Kazu grinned sheepishly. Then he wheeled about and sprinted off in the direction of the right, Guardromon moving faster than his build should allow to keep up with him.

"Hey, Fathead!" yelled Kazu, his voice registering only very faintly to Ogudomon. "It's time to join the party!" He pressed his D-Arc to his chest and said through gritted teeth. "Please, let this work. BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!"

After a few tense seconds of nothing there was a suddenly explosion of light. "YES!" cheered Kazu, as he felt himself fall back into his partner.

"**GUARDROMON BIOMERGE TO... HIANDROMON!"**

Just as before, the battle momentarily paused, as all and sundry turned to the new combatant. He was taller than an average human being, a similar height to Gallantmon. He looked like a much more completed version of Andromon, but he was encased in shiny black armour, flecked with red at all the joints, with a grey visor for eyes and two shoulder-guards that looked like faces, one red and one blue.

"Now that is some power-trip," exclaimed Kazu. "Let's see you try and knock me down, big guy! **ATOMIC RAY!"**

A huge laser-beam of nuclear energy suddenly erupted from his raised hands and collided full force with Ogudomon, sending him backwards, desperately scrabbling to keep a footing. "What is it with you lot!" demanded the DNA-digivolved Mega Digimon. "Every single time I've fought you another pops up out of nowhere. How many of you are there?"

"There are many of us," said Gallantmon. "You can't defeat us all."

"Of course I can. **ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!" **As before, he directed his rush at the newbie on the scene. But HiAndromon was far too quick. He didn't even bother to take flight, as most Mega Digimon seem to be able to do, even though they don't have wings. He just ran through the middle of the legs, noticing as he did so when he looked up, the eyes in the bottom of the legs. Six of them were wide and unblinking. But one was half-closed and looked tired. He dismissed it as unimportant.

"Hmph," said Ogudomon as HiAndromon emerged from the other side. "You just placed yourself in the firing range. **CATEDRAL!"**

The mouth opened and the ball of compressed shockwaves smashed the ground and erupted in all directions. Swiftly, acting on instinct alone, HiAndromon raised his hands and shouted the name of his second attack.

"**COPY PASTE!"**

His hands absorbed the shockwave shooting at him and with a pulse, sent it back. To say Ogudomon was surprised was an understatement. He was downright shocked to have his own shockwave tossed back at him. When he recovered from the impact, his eyes in his head narrowed.

"Arrgh! You're attacks become increasingly annoying. But it doesn't matter. It's still a result of your own attack and so it doesn't affect me. I shall eventually take one of you down. How you have all managed to survive for so long is beyond me, but rest assured, it will not last. Your data will be a great asset to me."

"Whatever," said HiAndromon.

Something tapped Ogudomon on the shoulder. As his head swivelled to look, his face was suddenly met by the combined fists of MegaGargomon, Cherubimon and the tails of MetalSeadramon and Mihiramon, alongside the sticks of Jijimon and Babamon, all at once.

Can you guess what happened? He fell over.

"Don't forget about the rest of us, old buddy," said Beelzemon, aiming Berenjena at the fallen Ogudomon.

"**SOLAR ROAR!"**

"**SHAKING PULSE!"**

"**X-SCISSOR CLAW!"**

"**CORONA BLASTER!"**

HiAndromon was welcomed into the struggle with open arms, but the fact of the matter was that his appearance made very little difference on the overall effect, except that Ogudomon's attacks became less useful than ever, since his shockwave was now being deflected back at him from one direction every time he tried it.

But in the end, it became more of a brawl, as Ogudomon marched onwards, and the Digimon desperately tried to keep him from reaching the town that he was heading towards.

But Ogudomon was onto them. "I see through all of this," he cried. "You would be willing to die to protect these pathetic humans. I can see the settlement ahead, which I know you hope to be empty by the time I arrive and destroy it. So tell me, what's the stop me from just changing direction again and heading somewhere completely different. You'd have to keep fighting to protect them, would you not? There'd be no retreating this time."

"NO!" cried Gallantmon. "We're not going to give you that option!"

"How exactly do you plan on stopping me?"

"Plesiomon! MetalSeadramon! Try that freezing thing again!"

"But it didn't work last time," objected Justimon.

"It's better than nothing," said Gallantmon. "We could get a few moments of rest and when he breaks out, they could do it again."

Alright! **HYDRO IMPACT CRUSHER!"**

"**GIGA ICE BLAST!"**

As Ogudomon was frozen in a massive block of ice, there was a sense of sagging. The fight had already been going on for an hour and a half and everyone was getting wiped out.

"You do know that we can't keep that up forever," said MetalSeadramon.

"I know," said Gallantmon. "But perhaps it can buy us some time."

"Don't relax your guard, guys," said Sakuyamon. "He'll break free again any sec..."

There was no warning whatsoever. No cracking and chips falling as the Demon Lord inside raged and attempted to throw off its icy prison. It was just a sudden explosion as the Demon used his Catedral attack and the ice instantly fractured and sent huge chunks the size of buildings flying in all directions. Nobody was able to escape the flying ice and everyone was smashed in the torso or the head and catapulted backwards, severely bruised and, in several cases, completely out of the fight.

"Smooth, Pineapple-head," groaned Beelzemon from the floor.

"It wasn't my idea," moaned Guilmon. "It was Takato's."

Takato was too weak to say "Hey!" Gallantmon's chest armour was significantly dented and he was breathing heavily. Ogudomon stepped casually over to him. "Perhaps I should kill you first," he said. "You seem to be the leader of this little resistance force."

"We have no leader," groaned Justimon. "He just comes up with the hare-brained schemes."

"Nevertheless, you shall be..."

"**STORM OF JUDGEMENT!"**

"**MEGA BARRAGE!"**

Ogudomon was caught off-guard as the two attacks struck him. His head wheeled about. Cherubimon was up once again, her wounds received from the ice healed, and MegaGargomon stood by her, no worse for wear than before, but still slightly dented around the chest and stomach areas.

"Fight those who can still fight back!" cried Cherubimon.

"Very well," said Ogudomon. "I believe you two have been the most annoying in this whole affair. It'll take you out now while everyone else is laid out across the ground. But wait, that HiAndromon can't block my attack can he? **CATEDRAL!"**

The attack sprang outwards and the Digimon were doomed.

Except they weren't.

"**TALISMAN SPHERE!"**

Ogudomon suddenly found himself encased in a bubble and his attack dissipated on the sides. He turned to see Sakuyamon hovering outside it. She had managed to quickly raise a shield to protect her from the flying ice. "I think that everyone else will be exempt from this, Oggo."

"Don't call me that!" raged Ogudomon.

"Yeah, that's my line," said Terriermon.

"Terriermon."

"Momentai."

Sakuyamon waved her hand and a large hole appeared in the side on the bubble. The two giant Megas stepped through as did Sakuyamon, before the hole resealed itself. Sakuyamon turned to face the wall and raised her palms. "You two delay him," she said. "It'll require a lot of concentration to maintain a shield this size for some time."

"You got it, Sakuyamon," said MegaGargomon, facing Ogudomon. "Let's mash him into the ground."

"I admire your bravery in the face of certain defeat," said Ogudomon. "Or perhaps you're just stupid. You do know it's futile, don't you?"

"Of course," said Suzie. "But that's never stopped us before."

"Good on you," chorused Lopmon.

Ogudomon lunged forwards, as did the two large biomerged Megas and they each grabbed a leg and blocked the charge, throwing him off and trying an attack of their own, working together as a team.

"**POWER PUMMEL!"**

"**HOLY HUG!"**

"Hey, alliteration," added Terriermon, as his fist slammed into Ogudomon's head and Cherubimon encased three of his legs in her huge arms and squeezed, causing him to fall sideways. The three of them became a mass of flailing limbs, bouncing off one another that reminded Sakuyamon, when she snatched a glance behind her, of Terriermon's, Calumon's and Impmon's wild bouncing earlier in the day. But Ogudomon was far better armed for this sort of thing, with his huge red claws that slashed at the two with good physical defences. They made loud scraping noises across MegaGargomon's armour and tore out chunks of data from Cherubimon, which healed instantly.

It was, as Terriermon would have said, pretty much even-stevens.

Outside the dome, the other's got to their feet or returned to hovering in the air if they didn't have any, exhausted and severely weakened, but extremely impressed with how they were doing. For their bulky size, the two siblings, in both human and Digimon way, were managing to be quite swift in their blocking movements. Sakuyamon was beginning to pant with the effort of keeping going with her shield. She gritted her teeth and provided what little energy she had left.

But, worn down as they were, MegaGargomon and Cherubimon began to lose ground. Ogudomon's wild, unrefined swings were beginning to take a toll on both of them and they strained to continue. But they knew the jig was up.

Especially when Ogudomon shouted **"ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"**

With no room to manoeuvre, the two caught the attack head. MegaGargomon dug his toes into the ground and raised his arms, to block it, but he was driven back all the same. The two collided with the side of the bubble that Sakuyamon had raised and it vanished, as the last of Sakuyamon's strength drained at the impact. One of Cherubimon's elbows caught Sakuyamon squarely in the back and sent her flying to the ground. She looked around to see MegaGargomon toppling backwards right towards her, and she rolled desperately to the side, only just clearing his massive form as he smashed onto his back.

Then she slumped, exhausted, one giant form on her left, the other falling to the ground on her right. The third towered over all three of them. "At last," he said, glee evident in his voices. "My first victims. I believe it's time for... **OH NO YOU DON'T! CATEDRAL!"**

Ogudomon had spotted the tiny MarineAngemon, who had also managed to evade the ice but was unable to help in the recent fight, flying towards Sakuyamon with intent to heal her. With the attack, he was knocked backwards and went zinging away from the others, who were forced into the ground. He crashed into the ground, hurt but alive.

"Not even you can evade me forever," sneered Ogudomon, then looked down at the three barely conscious forms beneath him, then settled on the one in the middle. "I said this yesterday, and I'll say it now. Goodbye, shaman!"

And once again, he raised his foot and lanced it downwards to crush Sakuyamon into the ground.

But then something inexplicable and seemingly completely random happened which saved Sakuyamon's life. She suddenly flared in a great white light, as did the two siblings on either side of her and there was a colossal explosion of searing light that shot outwards in all directions. Ogudomon's eye widened as he was engulfed in it and then something strange happened. Something other than the unexplained light show.

As he was thrown backwards by the attack, he felt pain. Searing pain. Burning pain that made his mind go numb. Pain? Pain? Nobody should be able to cause him this much pain with an attack except a Sovereign or Fanglongmon himself. What was happening?

Three seconds after it had begun, the light cleared, leaving Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon and Cherubimon all unharmed, and Ogudomon, sprawled on the grass, smoking and blistered. He raised his head and glared with true hatred. "THAT HURT!" he roared. "YOU WILL PAY DEARLY!"

He rose to his feet and charged, but then he heard something else. He looked round. It was the sound of Takato pointlessly screaming, Guilmon doing the same because he thought it might be necessary.

"I don't know what happened there, but it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna let you destroy everything the human race has created." Then he also burst into light. Ogudomon stepped back, fearing another blistering light-wave, but it didn't happen. When the light cleared, Gallantmon's armour had changed to a deep red, ten white feathered angel wings had sprouted from his back, and he had the sword Blutgang in one hand, and the spear Gungnir in the other.

"**GALLANTMON CRIMSON MODE!"**

With renewed vigour, Gallanrmon Crimson Mode leapt forwards, and not a moment too soon, for MegaGargomon, Cherubimon and Sakuyamon, all too weak to maintain their forms any longer, de-digivolved into their six separate components.

"**CRIMSON LIGHT!"** roared Gallantmon and the light swept between the defenceless beings and the great enemy, to strike Ogudomon and knock him asunder. But other than that it did not damage. Gallantmon was angry, not purged of all malice, so whatever they others had done was not being caused by him. But under normal circumstance, Gallantmon would be much stronger, and against the injured Ogudomon, he was more than enough to hold him off.

Beelzemon and Justimon quickly swept in and scooped up the fallen, Beelzemon tossing Renamon over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carefully picking up Rika in his other arm, while Justimon gathered up the unconscious bunnies and their own Tamers in his.

"We better get them out of here," said Justimon.

"What was your first clue," muttered Beelzemon, as the two retreated to a safe distance.

"You guys, get out of here," said Gallantmon. "It's may turn to hold him at bay for a while. Somebody check that the place is empty before calling me off the attack. Hurry! **FINAL JUSTICE!"**

"He's right!" said GranKuwagamon. "I'll check the city. We must move quickly!"

The giant bug soared away to buzz around the empty streets of the city. At the opposite side he spotted Yamaki and some policemen hustling out the last of a few stragglers. GranKuwagamon landed beside them, which helped to stymie that civilians on their way as they thought the bug was a bad guy.

"Is it all done?" asked GranKuwagamon.

"Yes," nodded Yamaki. "Call off the attack."

"Just as a word of advice, start getting the settlements evacuated from all directions from here, and not just west. There's no telling which way Ogudomon is going to turn."

Yamaki bit his lip and nodded. GranKuwagamon took off and wheeled back, in time to see most of the others disappearing back to their original campsite. Gallantmon was still fighting the enraged Ogudomon.

"It's done," he called. "You can leave."

"Great!" said Gallantmon. **"CRIMSON LIGHT!"** He launched a final wave of power at Ogudomon, sending him askew and then retreated after GranKuwagamon, plucking Gungnir from where it was stuck in Ogudomon's head as he went.

Ogudomon watched them go, then turned to storm into the city. It wouldn't be very much, but squashing a few hundred buildings might help to vent the incredible surge of anger he was feeling.

* * *

Rika's eyes opened. Slowly, stiffly and rather sorely, she sat up. She saw Renamon and Henry rubbing bruises on either side of her, Suzie in Henry's arms, and the two bunnies trying to work out kinks in their necks. The other digimon and people were crowded around, returned to their Rookie forms in all cases, except Guardromon and including Monodramon, and all of them, apart from Kenta, Jeri, Ai and Mako and Calumon, bruised or injured in some way.

She looked about her and said, "Okay, can anybody tell what the hell just happened?"

* * *

Not much to say now, except thanks to Tamara Caitlyn, Fireangel08 and new reviewer Bookworm Gal for reviewing.

* * *

Next time...

Will we find out what that whole light thing was about? Will Ogudomon change course again. Will any discoveries be made as to how to stop him?

* * *

Coming up :- **Chapter 18 : Wiki**


	18. Wiki

God damn lousy internet. It's been down since last Thursday. Still not up actually. I had to post this from school. Anyway, Happy Remembrance Day last Wednesday. Well, I say happy. But let's get into the chapter shall we and we can finally discover what the hell Alice meant a few chapters ago.

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 18 :- Wiki**

* * *

All of the Tamers were baffled and confused, and none of the Digimon were able to provide an appropriate answer. Nobody was able to explain why Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon and Cherubimon had all sudden erupted with a strange light, that had actually damaged the great Demon Lord Ogudomon.

"No clue at all," said Takato, rubbing his head.

"It was an incredibly strange feeling," said Renamon. "As if it was not actually me doing it, but at the same time, it was. Like some hidden power I posses, yet somebody else using my own body to perform that attack."

"Whatever it was," said Lopmon. "It definitely originated from you, Renamon. I felt nothing like that, and you were the first to start the whole glowy thing."

"I felt nothing like that either," chipped in Terriermon.

"Most irregular," said Henry, chin in palm and deep in thought. "Whatever it was, it injured the one who can't be injured by anything not created with a special immunity to the nullifying affect that he has."

"If we can figure out how to harness that power and perhaps use it again," said Ryo, "we could win this. We could stop the one that it was claimed we could not stop."

"First, I'd like to know what it was," said Henry. "There's no telling what the potential side-effects could be. Say, if we figured out how to do it, but not what it did, we could end killing Sakuyamon, and possibly any others involved, due to some random thing we had not even considered."

"It's like the whole card thing all over again," muttered Takato.

"But he's right, Takato," said Rika. "We could be putting not only our own, but everyone's lives in danger without this prior knowledge."

"I hate this," whined Kenta. Everyone turned to look at him. "You guys are all talking about something that happened that I didn't even see. Me, Jeri, Ai and Mako are all feeling a little left out here. What happened?"

"Sorry," said Takato. "Well-"

Kazu burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" demanded the other "moron twin."

"It's just great that for once I know about something that you don't know about. That never happens, ever." Kazu continued to laugh, pointing a finger at Kenta and using the other hand to clutch his chest. He stopped laughing when, for the second time that day, he was clonked in the head by Cyberdramon.

"Get a grip, Kazu," said Rika, coldly. "Show a little more maturity. You can biomerge now. Act like you deserve it. Even Suzie's more mature than you."

"I am?" asked Suzie. "Yay!"

"It looked to me," said Sandiramon the snake Deva, everyone turning to look at him. "Like some unbridled raw power that was suddenly unleashed in a desperate situation. It has not happened very often, but occasionally I saw Zhuqiaomon do something similar, except that he practically exploded with a giant ball of flame rather than light."

"That's right," said Lopmon. "I remember that incident. That was against Parallelmon before I became a partner."

"I saw him do that many times against the D-Reaper," said Gryphonmon. "And the other Sovereigns were performing similar themes. It always happened when they put themselves at a terrible risk in order to assist one of us."

"All four of them, raw energy," nodded Jijimon. "It was like some sort of last ditch attempt to survive. It only ever happened on the very brink of deletion, if I recall correctly."

"For once, you have," said Babamon.

"What do you mean, for once?"

"Not now, guys," said Terriermon. "Serious conversation, going on here."

"Serious? You?" laughed Impmon.

"You weren't there, Impmon," said Renamon, glancing at him from out the corner of her eye. "You weren't there. Trust me when I say that Terriermon can be serious when he wants to be."

"Er, alright."

"Well, I've never heard of it," said Henry, "not after all the time I spent researching Digimon on the internet."

"What?" asked Rika. "You can find stuff about them there?"

"Of course," said Takato. "There are whole websites dedicated to the Digimon from the card games, which include most digimon in the real world after all. DMA + Digidex is a good one, but my personal favourite is the Digimon Wiki. That's got shed-loads of info on almost all Digimon."

"Including Ogudomon?" asked Jeri.

"Probably," said Henry. "To be honest, I only checked up on some of the Digimon we've met, including the Sovereigns. When we received the message about Ogudomon's approach there wasn't really that much time to sit down as the people were evacuated, and what with... startling revelation that Terriermon and Renamon told us the thought of looking him up vanished from my mind completely."

"The internet's not perfect though," said Ryo. "I looked up the Wiki pages as well. I didn't see any information about the Sovereigns' supposed almighty burst of power when I looked them up."

"Neither did I," nodded Henry.

"But perhaps the internet does have something we can use," said Takato. "If we can find the page on Ogudomon, it could lead us to a way of defeating him."

"Well, it's better than nothing," said Rika. "All we're doing now is blindly throwing our attacks at him. And perhaps the page on Sakuyamon could give us some hint about what the hell that was that just happened."

"This world is just weird," said Vajramon. "I don't have a clue what any of you are talking about but you all seem to understand. The Digital World is a much simpler place."

"No it's not," said Terriermon. "The Digital World is a world of weirdness, while this one is a world of people trying to tame weirdness."

"Yes, well, anyway, moving right along," said Henry, pulling out his phone. "I'll contact my dad. Perhaps he can do some research for us. Odds are, he'll have some form of computer with him, if just to check his e-mails. He's like that."

"Great," said Rika. "And all we have to do is wait and hope."

"But that's boring," interjected Calumon.

"Uh-oh," said Impmon. "Calumon's getting bored. Hurry, we must play games before he annoys the hell out of everyone."

Calumon, Guilmon and Terriermon all laughed. Impmon grabbed Calumon and began to encourage his own Tamers to join in with the game of tag, promising them he'd go easy on them – after all he was a faster runner and had considerably more endurance.

* * *

Janyu Wong (A/N: I spelt it wrong before. So sue me.) was sitting in one of three small hotel rooms in a nearby area that the parents and families of the Tamers had been specially given by HYPNOS to sit throughout this ordeal, at least until Ogudomon began to head their way. He did indeed have a laptop computer with him. His wife Mayumi, and his two eldest children, Rinchei and Jaarin were sitting on of the opposite beds, while Takato's parents, Takehiro and Mie, sat on the same bed as him.

Silence hung over the little gathering. None of them particularly had anything to say. Janyu was checking up on the internet for any news reports on what had been going on, but there was very little to go on as people were usually panicking to get away. As of yet, he'd only come across a list of places that the giant Digimon – unnamed by the government – had attacked, and a short video clip taken by some idiot on his mobile phone that featured Ogudomon shouting **"CATEDRAL!"** and Beelzemon shooting towards the person to scoop him out of harm's way.

The video had ended with Beelzemon's face in the frame, saying, "I've got half a mind to hang you from the church steeple, you idiot."

Janyu had chuckled at that. Beelzemon hadn't changed at all.

"When do you think this will all be over, Janyu?" asked Mie, suddenly. "I want to get back to my son. I want to believe he's safe but from what we've seen of that thing... how can the children even hope to defeat it?"

"They managed to defeat the D-Reaper," said Takehiro, reassuringly. "I'm sure they'll come through."

"I can't say for sure," said Janyu, "for I know that Ogudomon is a tough customer, but Takehiro is right. There's no need to fret. The children can take care of themselves and they know when they're out of their depth."

Just then, the phone rang. Janyu happened to be sitting the closest so he reached over and picked it up, placing it to his ear as he continued to scan the internet for information. "Hello, this is Mr. Wong speaking."

"**Dad, it's Henry."**

"Henry," Janyu perked up, sighing with relief, as he had really been just as worried for the safety of his son and daughter as the Matsuki's were for their son. "Are you alright? And Suzie? Terriermon and Lopmon? All the others?"

"**We're fine, considering we're facing on massively powerful digimon who you can only hurt if you suddenly decide to explode with golden light."**

"**Terriermon."**

"**Momentai**/Momentai," said Janyu and Terriermon at the same time. Janyu then relayed that they were all fine to the other people in the room, who also sighed in relief.

"**Listen, Dad,"** said Henry. **"We could really use your help. Something's come up and we may have figured out a way for us to hurt Ogudomon. Can you log into the internet and look him up on the Digimon Wiki page?"**

"I've already logged onto the internet. I'm monitoring what the public are making of the Demon Lord's presence here. What happened? What have you found?"

"**For some reason, Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon and Cherubimon erupted in a golden light that somehow hurt him. We need to find out if the Wiki knows of a weakness."**

"Cherubimon?" Janyu was bemused.

"**Oh, yeah, sorry. Suzie and Lopmon figured out how to biomerge."**

"Suzie?" asked Janyu. "On the battlefield. I don't know if I'm comfortable with that. She's not as much of a fighter as you are."

"Relax, dad, she's fine. And she's getting better at Tai Chi since you introduced her to it a few months ago. Now quick, let's have a look."

"Very well," said Janyu, heading for Google and typing in "Digimon Wiki." After loading up the site and typing in "Ogudomon" in the search area, he pulled up the page. There he was, a picture of the great demon lord. To the left of the picture was a small wad of text.

"Alright then, I'll read what it says to you," said Janyu.

"Ogudomon is an Incarnation Digimon whose name and design are derived from the Ogdoad..."

"**Pardon?"**

"It says here..." eight Egyptian deities who were counterbalanced by gender and element."

"**Well that makes sense,"** said Henry. **"After all, the Sovereigns are based on the four Guardian Spirits of Kyoto and the Devas on the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Go on."**

"It is a grotesque "Super Demon Lord" that has seven legs, each with an eye beneath it and a sword pierced through the knee which bears one of the seals of the Seven Deadly Sins, as well as an eighth eye on its face. As it includes the whole of the Digital World's sins, and is a mysterious incarnation with the ability to atone for them all, the power of a Digimon with even a small amount of malice is offset, making it impossible for it to defeat Ogudomon. Like Lucemon Satan Mode, it carries the Crowns of the Seven Deadly Sins upon its head."

"**Hmm,"** said Henry. **"That didn't really tell us much."**

"Sorry," said Janyu.

"**Not your fault,"** said Henry. **"Now, the strange blast that blasted Ogudomon originated from Sakuyamon and spread to Suzie and me. Can you look up Sakuyamon and then see if the page has any answers at all?"**

"Okay," Janyu quickly brought up the page, showing an elaborate picture of Sakuyamon with three red cards in one hand and the blue fox spirit circling her head.

"There's a little less text here, but here it is," said Janyu as he read aloud. "Sakuyamon is a Shaman Digimon whose name is derived from the Japanese Princess Sakuya of Konohana. There is also an alternate miko version of Sakuyamon."

"**Really?"** muttered Henry. **"Never knew that."**

"There's more. "Sakuyamon has pride in her divination skill. She has the role of executing the will of God, and she uses four elemental foxes for attacking and data gathering. She keeps them in tubes on her belt on her waist. When inquiring about the will of God, she changes to her "shrine maiden form". It is said in this form, her power to expel malice becomes more powerful."

There was a very long pause as both sides digested what they had just read.

"**What?"** said Henry, stunned. **"Read that last bit again. The last two sentences."**

"**When inquiring about the will of God, she changes to her "shrine maiden form". It is said in this form, her power to expel malice becomes more powerful."**

"**Ability to expel malice?"** repeated Henry. **"Sakuyamon has the ability to expel malice in others?"**

"That is the answer to our problem," said Janyu excitedly. "If Rika and Renamon can somehow hack into that power, then they should be able to rid another of all malice and they might be able to take Ogudomon down."

"**Right,"** said Henry, **"but it doesn't help us with... oh wait, hold on. I'm passing you over."**

Janyu blinked. Then another voice came through the phone, a female and extremely mature one. It was Renamon. Janyu could picture her holding the phone precariously in one paw.

"**Could you repeat that?"** she asked.

Janyu re-read the section on Sakuyamon. **"Interesting, I never realized that. But Henry is right, it does not actually help me with figuring out how to do it."**

"Well, how do you Digimon figure out how to do anything?" asked Janyu.

"**We try."**

* * *

"**Exactly,"** came Janyu's voice. **"You may as well start somewhere. When this is all over, you'll have some tale."**

"What does that mean?" Renamon's eyes narrowed. "I happen to think my tail is pretty exquisite as it is."

"**No, I mean, you'll have some story to tell."**

"Oh, I see," Renamon nodded. "A homonym. My apologies."

It was as if a light bulb had suddenly gone off in Henry's head. "Homonyms. Like Alice said. And Ogudomon... of course!" he yelled, startling all the others present. Henry barely noticed. He wheeled about and pointed at the four present Devas and Lopmon. "The prophecy!" he cried. "The one about the return of Fanglongmon. How did it go again?"

"Will it help?" asked Pajiramon.

"If my hunch, is correct."

"His hunches are good," nodded Terriermon.

"Well, it went: The power of dry, shall come on by, all eight must die, and his rise will be nigh," said Vajramon. "How does that help us in any way?"

"Tell me," said Henry. "Was the prophecy spoken by someone to people, or was it found in writing form?"

"It was spoken," said Sandiramon. "By the messenger of Fanglongmon. Valkyrimon. I was there. All the Devas and the Sovereigns were present at the time."

"Valkyrimon," Henry practically yelped, excitement flooding through him. Renamon," he called. "Pass me the phone. I think I may have solved the prophecy. But I'll need proof. Let me talk to my Dad."

Renamon had learned not to question Henry when we was onto something. She passed the phone back to the smart Tamer, who said, "Dad, this is highly irregular, but I need to get over here. Bring your laptop, and the equipment you guys used load Operation Doodlebug into Terriermon."

"**What for?"**

"I have an idea. And you don't need to bring the whole machine. Just the wires that connected Terriermon to it."

"You're not going to get them to load it into me again are you?" asked Terriermon.

"Hell no," said Henry. "Hurry Dad. It could save the world."

"**Alright. I'm on my way. I should be there soon. I'll have to get Shibumi. He has the wires."**

"Great. Thanks." Henry hung up.

"You going to tell us what it is you may have figured out?" asked Impmon, incredulously.

"Geniuses don't tell you their theories unless they have the equipment to show you at the same time," said Terriermon.

"And I could be wrong," said Henry. "I want to check it first." With that, he fell silent and they all sat around, recovering from their fight and waiting impatiently for Janyu and Shibumi to arrive.

* * *

When they finally did, they had brought Yamaki with them. Yamaki was carrying what appeared to be a small plastic black box. When asked about it, he said. "It's a portable power source, better than the batteries of the laptop."

"Quickly," said Henry, rushing forward, Terriermon on his shoulder. "Let's get this done quickly."

Working quickly and efficiently, Shibumi plugged the laptop into the portable power source that Yamaki had brought with them and then attached the cables to the USB port on the side of the laptop.

"Alright, then Henry," said Janyu. "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"Soon," said Henry. "But first let's get the other end of these wires plugged in."

"Okay," said Shibumi. He picked up the other end of the wires, with the little suckers on them like the wires at a doctors and advanced towards Terriermon. However, he stopped when Henry shook his head.

"Not Terriermon," he said. "Wrong rabbit."

"What?" asked Terriermon, as Henry turned to face a bewildered Lopmon. "You're planning on letting them download something into my sister?"

"Your sister?" asked Yamaki.

"Long story," said Rika.

"No, I'm not going to be downloading anything into a Digimon," said Henry. "Quite the opposite in fact."

Terriermon looked blank. So did the others. Henry sighed and said, "Do you remember the Digimon TV series?"

"Yes," nodded all the humans and most of the Tamer Digimon. "What about it?" asked Takato.

"Well, there was an episode in season 1 where they were fleeing from MetalSeadramon... sorry about that," he glanced up at the giant sea-snake.

"Meh, I've got used to the idea by now," said MetalSeadramon.

"Anyway, they were fleeing from him inside Whamon. You remember how Izzy plugged those wires into Whamon at the time and they saw on the computer what Whamon was seeing at the time?"

"Yep," said Kenta, nodding enthusiastically.

"Well, if I can plug these wires into Lopmon," said Henry, "then I may be able to call up her memories onto the screen. Most specifically..."

"...the time where the prophecy was told," finished Ryo, understanding.

"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" asked Lopmon, stepping bravely forward and allowing Shibumi to attach one of the cables to her forehead just under her three horns.

"Yes," said Henry. "Something about the messenger himself. Valkyrimon. If I'm right... then we might be able to finish off Ogudomon today."

"Exciting prospect," said Lopmon, the other two cables attached to either of her cheeks. "What do I have to do?"

"Just picture the event very clearly in your mind. You're made of data so you register something like a USB stick. How long ago was the event?"

"A long time ago," said Lopmon. "Very shortly after all the Devas had been assembled. A few days after I was born."

Henry nodded and rifled through what appeared to be a set of files. "Does anyone recall what day?"

"Yes," said Mihiramon. "It was on the seventeenth of September in Earth terms. The first year of us being born. It was in the evening to, around six."

"Thanks," Henry located the appropriate file, each one representing a day. Windows Media Player came up and he scrolled along till quite late on. A few minutes later, Lopmon giggling slightly as the cables vibrated on her face, he went, "Ah, here we are."

The Tamers, their partners, Janyu, Shibumi, Yamaki and some of the smaller other Digimon crowded round to look. The camera, or the eyes of Lopmon at the time, was high up, as she was Antylamon. Some of the other Devas and Baihumon could be seen in the foreground, but in the middle of the screen was a humanoid Digimon. Pure white with giant feathers across his back, an eagle-like helmet, brown and silver armour adorning his body, a large sword across his back and another at his hip, winged boots, a light blue robe and what appeared to be a golden falcon perched on one arm, he held himself proudly.

"That's him," said Mihiramon. "Valkyrimon. Messenger to Fanglongmon himself."

Henry unmuted the speakers and a voice came out of them.

"...Ze prophecy for ze mighty God's return iz az follows. Ze power of dry, shall come on by, all echt must die, and his rise will be nigh."

With that, Valkyrimon shot upwards. Antylamon's eyes followed his progress until he was lost to sight.

"He hasn't been seen since," said Vajramon. "We figure he's gone to join Fanglongmon."

"Echt?" repeated Impmon. "Echt?"

"We figured that that means eight," said Pajiramon. "No other word we came up with made sense."

"I think..." said Henry. "You were right. It was eight. But there was something else that I noticed about this guy. Did anyone else notice something odd about him?"

"His fashion sense?" asked Terriermon.

"Well, apart from that," said Henry. "Anyone?"

"I think that I've caught on, son," said Janyu, beaming, "and I believe that you may be onto something."

"Thanks, dad. Anyone else?"

"Well," said Monodramon. "Apart from the German accent I didn't really..."

"Spot on!" interrupted Henry. "Give the 'mon a star."

"Er, for what?" asked Monodramon, bemused.

"It's quite simple really. All this time, you guys have been thinking that when he said "the power of dry," you meant he was saying the opposite of wet. But in the German language..."

"...It means something completely different, I'm guessing," said Rika. "A homonym."

Henry flipped over to a word document, then unplugged Lopmon from the machine. "Thanks, Lopmon. You've been a great help."

"No problem," Lopmon looked shy.

"There was one other thing, besides homonyms that Alice told us to beware," said Henry. "Spelling. Look here." He typed, D-R-Y into Word. "That's what we all thought it was, but what I think it is, is this."

He typed it.

D-R-E-I.

"Drei," he said. "The German word for three. If I'm right, it means the power of three. Three Digimon. And I think, it's you three."

His finger pointed out Terriermon, Lopmon and Renamon in turn.

"You mean to say," said Terriermon, "that no one has been able to figure out the prophecy because the person who said it was stupid enough to say it in a mix of two languages?"

"It was us that managed to harm him," said Renamon. "But I don't understand. How does this relate to Ogudomon in any way?"

"It ticked in my head," said Henry, "when Dad read the article on Ogudomon to me. He said that Ogudomon was based on eight Egyptian deities called the Ogdoad."

"All eight must die," quoted Impmon.

"Precisely," said Henry. "You guys obviously have the power to defeat him. I think that each and every one of his seven legs represents one of the Ogdoad and the head resembles the last one. After all, he has eight eyes."

"Wait," said Kazu. "During the last battle with him, I noticed that one of the eyes on his legs was half-closed and it wasn't doing so good. It looked weakened, and I think, though I'm not sure, it was the leg that the sword had been pulled out of."

"Better and better," said Henry. "Dad said that the swords contain the crests of the Seven Deadly Sins. I think that these swords give him his super-strength, which was why the Sovereigns were not able to defeat him, but only weaken him. If we can remove the swords from him, he should be weakened enough for us, or rather them," he pointed at the designated three, "to destroy him for real."

"But for it all to work," he turned to Renamon. "You need to figure out how to change into your shrine-maiden mode."

"This is all well and good," said Rika. "In fact, it's great, but I still want to know what that giant energy explosion was."

"I..."

"Wait. Don't tell us. You have a theory, don't you?"

"Yes I do," said Henry. "I believe that the energy was in fact the power of the Shrine-maiden mode beginning to emerge. Sakuyamon has the ability to repel malice, and it's even stronger in that form. That ability spread to MegaGargomon and Cherubimon and injured Ogudomon as malice had been temporarily repelled. He lived through it at all, I believe, because he backed off in time, and because the swords are giving him his strength."

"If we can harness that force again," said Renamon, "then we can fulfil the prophecy, destroy Ogudomon and save the whole human World all at once."

Henry nodded. "Then it is decided. While Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon and Cherubimon prepare, the rest of you will have to remove the other swords from his legs. Then all eight of the separate bits of the Ogdoad can be blown away in his vulnerable state."

Then he frowned. "What I still don't understand is why Terriermon and Lopmon. Is there some special power that the two of them possess or..."

"I think I have the answer to that," said Renamon. "I believe that the stronger the other Digimon, the more difficult it is to banish all their malice. However, for me, it'll be much easier for me to purify Terriermon and Lopmon, since the two of them are connected to my mind. It makes the flow much easier. Terriermon is my mate. Lopmon is his sister."

"Perfect," said Henry.

"And out of all of them," said Guilmon, chipping in unexpectedly. "Cherubimon and MegaGargomon have the most destructive attacks. The rest of us have better accurate attacks for getting something specific, but Cherubimon and MegaGargomon can bombard all of Ogudomon, instead on just one section."

Silence.

Continued.

More silence.

"Since when did you think things out like that?" asked Impmon.

"I'm not a total doofus," said Guilmon. "Leave that to my partner."

"Yeah, leave that to m... hey! Not you too."

Everybody laughed. At last things seemed to be looking up. They had a solution and they knew just how they could carry that out.

"I suppose we owe Goro some thanks after all," said Terriermon. "If it hadn't been for him, we could never fulfil the prophecy. We'd still be at odds with each other."

"I just wished it could have come about another way," said Renamon.

"There's one more small thing I don't get," said Ryo. "If everyone has been puzzling over that prophecy for so long, how did Ebonwumon know about it?"

"That I have no idea about," shrugged Henry. "If we ever see the turtle again we can ask him ourselves."

"Alright," said Takato. "We wait and rest until Ogudomon makes his next move. Then we take him out once and for all."

"Well, first I must try to get into the shrine-maiden mode," said Renamon. "A peculiar name. I've never considered myself to be a "maiden" before."

"We'd still be a warrior," said Rika. "We always have been as Sakuyamon."

Renamon nodded. "Well, no time like the present really is there?"

"You're right. The sooner we master this, the better. Takato?"

"Hmm?" asked the goggle-headed boy.

"What did it feel like when you became Gallantmon Crimson Mode for the first time?"

"Exhilarating," said Takato. "Like I could do no wrong. But I can't really help you with how to get you to that stage. After all, I was assisted the first time around by Grani. But, he's not around anymore."

"What about you, Impmon?" asked Renamon.

"Not too sure how it worked for me either," said the little purple Rookie. "But it started with another object, just like Pineapple-head merging with Grani, I merged my arm with the toy gun that Mako gave me. The rest of it, the wings and everything, just... well... happened after that."

"Perhaps that's the key," said Rika. "If we can find something, like an inanimate object for the two of us to merge with, then we might be able to change form. Gallantmon, the knight, merged with his steed. Beelzemon, the Demon, merged with a weapon. What could we use?"

"How about a sakura?" asked Jeri. "If Sakuyamon is based on the goddess Konohana Sakuya-hime, then you could use her symbol – the blossom to the Japanese cherry tree. A sakura. That's like a holy object because she'd be performing the will of God."

"Brilliant," said Rika. "Never thought I'd say this, but, let's go Mount Fuji. The main shrine to the Goddess Sakuya-hime are there. Biomerge activate!"

"**RENAMON BIOMERGE TO... SAKUYAMON!"**

* * *

The man, Touma, (I know it's the Japanese name for Thomas in Data squad) got quite a shock, as, half-way through a certain ritual, an extremely tall shaman digimon, with yellow armour, a long staff and long, flowing white hair landed right next to him and stood much taller than he. He quailed a little at the sight, and the people visiting the place shrank away from her, but, he reasoned, it was a shaman and therefore probably wasn't a threat to him. And it was one of the Digimon he had seen on the news. The good ones that had fought the D-Reaper.

"Excuse me," said Sakuyamon, in her double voice. This characteristic caused Touma to blink. He had forgotten that some of these good digimon could merge with children. "It looks like I interrupted something and for that I apologise, but there is something serious that I need to discuss with you."

"Erm, well, I suppose I could take a minute of my time out of this service. What is it that you require?"

"I am sure you are aware that there is a massive evil Digimon on the loose, destroying cities left, right and centre. His name is Ogudomon, a Mega level Demon Lord digimon with the ability to control malice and thus repel all attacks thrown at him. He is practically unstoppable, but I believe that he can be stopped with something that I'm sure you understand."

"What is it?" Touma was getting bolder with every second now he was sure that Sakuyamon was not going to harm him.

"The will of a God," smiled Sakuyamon, neglecting to mention that the God she was referring to was a massive dragon.

"Ah, well, I know a lot about that. What is it that you require of me?"

"Simple. I need to borrow a sakura," she indicated the cherry blossom on the altar behind him.

Touma looked blank. He thought back to a few movies he had seen where someone brandished a symbol of God at something which caused it to get fried. "Are you going to brandish it before the monster?"

"No," said Sakuyamon, "but it may allow me to take a form that will be able to stop him."

Touma looked at the sakura. He was quite special to him. After all it was the very symbol of Konohana Sakuya-hime "Will you be able to bring it back?"

"I hope so," said Sakuyamon, although she was not that hopeful.

Touma glanced around at the people surrounding him. To his surprise he spotted two more Digimon watching the proceedings from the top of the huge pillars, the torii. Two small rabbit-like Digimon, one white, one brown, staring hopefully below at the scene.

"Very well," he said, and in a ceremonious way, daintily lifting it up in a way that made Sakuyamon's eyes roll slightly under her mask, he passed it to her. Carefully, she cupped it in one hand and held it up, as Touma began to recite something under his breath, a slightly unnecessary thing to do, but that didn't matter.

Gradually, as Touma continued to chant, the sakura burst into light, which spread up Sakuyamon's arm and across her whole body. The area around the shrine was filled with the light. From nearby, a couple of people thought that Sakuya herself had returned to Earth. Sakuyamon turned a circle and the light cleared and she yelled:

"**SAKUYAMON MIKO MODE!"**

The change wrought in the Mega level biomerged shaman Digimon was not quite as distinguished as the change from Gallantmon to his Crimson Mode. The majority of her yellow armour stayed the same but there were some slight differences, just like Beelzemon to his Blast Mode. Her boots and gloves had thinned and become metal, her gloves and hip-guards now had a large blue opal set in each one, and her breastplate was studded with smaller ones. Her shoulder guards had also narrowed and were mostly silver dotted with yellow. She kept her staff, and she had a long billowing cloak coming from the armour on her back.

"So this is the Miko Mode," she mused to herself. "Makes sense. A Miko is Shrine-maiden after all."

"Not much of a change is there?" noted Terriermon. "You feel any different?"

"Yes. I feel... stronger, more powerful. And it's like I have a fixed purpose, to go out into the world and perform what God wishes me to do. And as we know, right now that is to destroy Ogudomon."

"Well, we should get back to the others," said Lopmon.

"Right," said Sakuyamon and took off, collecting Terriermon and Lopmon from the top of the torii and waving goodbye to the helpful Touma.

But when she reached a mile or so from the shrine, suddenly Sakuyamon felt, in her mind, a massive presence, like someone was invading her brain. The rush of power almost overwhelmed her and in her mind, she saw four large, red eyes before her suddenly open in mid-air.

_So,_ said a deep rumbling voice that seemed to reverberate from all around, but none of the nearby humans seemed to be able to hear. _The prophecy is beginning to unfold. I sense your concern. Be not afraid of me, for I do not bring harm to any who do not deserve it._

_What the hell is going on? _Demanded Terriermon mentally.

_Ah,_ said the voice. _Unless I am very much mistaken, and I never have been mistaken before, that is the voice of one of the three. And I can feel the presence of the third here as well._

_I know that voice,_ said Lopmon. _But I never thought I would hear it for some time. My lord, Fanglongmon, I bow before you._

_There is no need for you to do anything of the sort former-Deva. You are of the Angels, some of my highest followers. And your brother, though his Mega form is not of the same ilk, need not bow to me either._

_Jesus Christ, I am speaking to a God,_ thought Terriermon.

_But not to Jesus Christ,_ there was almost a smirk in the tone of Fanglongmon.

_Almighty lord of all Digimon, _said Renamon. _We will not fail you. We shall destroy Ogudomon and send him to Anubimon's realm in many millions of different pieces._

_Anubimon will be glad to hear it,_ said Fanglongmon. _He has been waiting for Ogudomon to come to judgement for quite some time. Now go. I have sealed myself away to prevent myself from interfering with the Digital World in such times. It is not my business to do so. Go, and I will be freed, as will my service._

_As you command, my lord,_ said Renamon.

_I reckon your heads getting a little crowded Renamon,_ said Rika. _First me, then Terriermon, then Lopmon and as a result Suzie, and now this guy._

_Well trust me when I say that no one else is gaining access, except perhaps Henry,_ said Renamon.

With that, they felt Fanglongmon's presence leave their minds. Sakuyamon scooped up a bunny in each arm and leapt upwards, heading back to camp. The time had come.

* * *

Huzzah! Finally, Chapter 18 has been completed. The story is almost over. Thanks to all my reviewers. It's getting more and more difficult for me to find time to write these chapters but I definitely should be finished in a couple of weeks. Now I'll go sit around and eagerly anticipate Merlin this afternoon and Doctor Who tomorrow.

* * *

Next time...

Will the Miko Mode be enough? Will Ogudomon perish? Will Fanglongmon rise again?

* * *

Coming up:- **Chapter 19 : Fanglongmon's Will**


	19. Fanglongmon's Will

Let's get this party started. Sorry for the delay but work is beginning to catch up with me – I have had to do a lot of work on a Theatre Studies devised performance based on the topic of "Fear." It's going to be epic. Special thanks to all my reviewers and especially this time to Marc Bailey, who gave me an idea on improving the last chapter. I have also changed Sakuyamon Shrine-maiden Mode to Miko Mode if you want to go back to the last chapter and read it. After all, a Miko is a Shrine-maiden. Enough of me. Onward.

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* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 19:- Fanglongmon's Will**

* * *

The four story building was soundly crushed flat with a loud bang of breaking concrete and the shatter of windows as the great, red-clawed foot descended upon it roof and kept going down the ground floor, taking the elevator and the stairs at the same time. It wasn't enough for Ogudomon. It just wasn't the same. Sure, it was amusing to pulverise the buildings of this pathetic world, but there were no people in them. Damn Tamers, evacuating the areas before he got there.

There were times where he wondered if it had been a bad thing for his two separate components to merge into one being, but as the Barbamon side of him always pointed out, the Digital World was a tough place and admittedly these Tamers and their Digimon were strong. They would have been destroyed a long time ago if they had still been separated. Even the traitor Beelzemon would have been able to soundly beat them with his new Mode Change. That would have been embarrassing for both halves.

But as for that Sakuyamon, what had happened there? The impossible had happened and he had been injured. The front half of his two front legs were still severely charred by that attack, whatever it had been. And the MegaGargomon and Cherubimon had somehow been involved as well. They were all extremely aggravating in their own ways, particularly since they seemed to be able to throw anything he sent at them off with little effort. He had yet to kill anyone since coming to this world.

But that would change. Of that, he was sure.

The Cherubimon had also come worryingly close to discovering his great weakness. For some reason nobody particularly paid much attention to the swords sticking out of his knees. They all thought they were just for decoration or something. But the Cherubimon had plucked one out and he had feared the worst at that point, but she had merely used it to attack him.

But then again, she still would not have been able to damage him in any way.

But the Sakuyamon...

She would have to die. And anyone who stood in his way to get to her would be taken out. The next time he faced the Tamers, she would remain his only target until such a time as she was destroyed once and for all. Then he could move on and destroy the others. The Cherubimon would be next. She could heal herself easily, so he would aim for the head. Surely she would not be able to re-grow that, as she had with the chunks of flesh he had repeatedly torn out of her. Then MegaGargomon would have to be torn to shreds, ripped open with his claws. Oh, how he would savour that moment.

He turned and upended yet another building. This city too was almost completely gone. He could see the long-range helicopters hovering some distance off, out of range of his attacks and monitoring his process. No doubt when he moved off to destroy another town they would report his movements to the Tamers and the nearest area of civilisation in that direction. The eye in his head narrowed.

_Might as well get on with it_, he thought to himself. Kicking aside the nearest of the remaining buildings he began to head south-west.

* * *

Sakuyamon landed amongst her friends, Terriermon on one shoulder and Lopmon on the other. Glances of awe were cast in her direction and the other Tamers came over to admire the massive opals set in her shoulder-guards.

"You did it then," observed Henry, as Terriermon hopped from her shoulder and onto his.

"That I did," said Sakuyamon. "This is the Miko Mode. I feel so different, and yet I feel the same. It's like Imperialdramon Fighter Mode in the TV show. My attacks are the same, and yet I feel much more powerful. The intent of Fanglongmon is flowing within me."

"And she says that quite literally," said Lopmon. "We just had a nice conversation with the Great Digimon God himself."

"What?" asked Vajramon, instantly paying more attention that before. "But how?"

"Over the telephone," Terriermon rolled his eyes. "How do you think? He's a God. He can read minds."

"And we can reply," said Renamon from Sakuyamon's body. "We shall prevail today, at last. Of that, I am certain."

"We are certain," said Rika.

"Well, all we have to do now," said Kazu. "Is wait around for that great nitwit Ogudomon to decide he wants to rearrange the city plan of another area..."

No sooner had he finished speaking, Henry's phone rang. "Three guesses as to who this is going to be," he laughed as he pulled it out and answered. "Hello?"

And sure enough, it was Yamaki, who had left the area along with Janyu and Shibumi pretty much as soon as they were no longer needed in order to continue with what they had been doing before. **"Mr. Wong. As you have probably guessed already, Ogudomon has started moving again. He's heading south-west of his previous location. Tell me, have you figured out how Ms. Nonaka and Renamon are going to reach the essential Mode Change you were talking about."**

"They've already done it, Yamaki," said Henry, winking at Sakuyamon. "And we're all just about ready for combat. We've rested up and hopefully this should be the last fight we have against Ogudomon. But you should evacuate everywhere just in case."

"**Already on it,"** said Yamaki. **"Just do your best. The world will not think any less of you if you do not succeed. We have revealed to the general public why you're not having any success and we have told them we may have a solution. Let's hope we can deliver."**

"Yeah, for all our sakes," said Henry. "We're on our way." He hung up. "He's heading south-west guys," he said to the others. "This is it. The big one."

"The one we've all been waiting for," nodded Takato. "We're ready to kick some ass."

"Remember the plan guys," said Henry. "You have to take out the swords from Ogudomon's legs before we can destroy him. Suzie, get ready. Everything depends on us now."

"No pressure then," smiled his sister.

"Nope, none at all."

"Well, guys we have six swords left to take out," said Takato. "Let's give it all we've got. Once he figures out what we're up to he'll try to stop us. You guys hang back and conserve your energy," he pointed to Sakuyamon, Henry, Terriermon, Suzie and Lopmon. "The rest of us will take care of it."

"Right," said Ryo. "Let's get this done with."

Takato, Ryo and Kazu stood together and pressed their digivices to their chest. "BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!"

"**GUILMON BIOMERGE TO ... GALLANTMON!"**

"**MONODRAMON BIOMERGE TO ... JUSTIMON!**

"**GUARDROMON BIOMERGE TO ... HIANDROMON!"**

"**IMPMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO ... BEELZEMON BLAST MODE!"**

"Good luck guys," called Suzie as the procession of Digimon passed by. Gallantmon and Beelzemon took point, followed by Gryphonmon carrying Pajiramon and GranKuwagamon clutching Vajramon. MetalSeadramon snaked after them, HiAndromon surfing on his neck, and Plesiomon took after behind them, with Sandiramon riding on his back. Jijimon and Babamon followed on, while Justimon and Mihiramon brought up the rear. MarineAngemon had been in there somewhere, but he was so small they had failed to notice him.

"See you guys later," called Justimon over his shoulder.

Sakuyamon watched them leaving, standing tall over Henry, Terriermon, Suzie, Lopmon, Kenta, Jeri, Ai and Mako. "Someday," said Kenta, "I am going to show Kazu that he's not the only one of us two who can biomerge. MarineAngemon would agree with me on that."

"We don't doubt you, Kenta," said Jeri, frowning as the red cape of Gallantmon was lost to her vision.

"Speak for yourself."

"Terriermon."

"Momentai. I was kidding."

"Well, now that they're gone," said Lopmon. "Shall we do this?"

"Yes," said Suzie. "We shall. BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!"

"**LOPMON BIOMERGE TO ... CHERUBIMON!"**

"And you're not leaving us out of the loop," said Terriermon.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Cherubimon, looking down on her brothers.

"BIOMERGE ACTIVATE!" cried Henry.

"**TERRIERMON BIOMERGE TO ... MEGAGARGOMON!"**

The three Mega level Digimon stood and watched as the tail-end of Plesiomon vanished from sight. Sakuyamon's feet left the ground and she levitated upwards towards the shoulders of the two giants. She felt a throbbing energy within her, pounding to the beat of her Digital Heart.

"Now we begin," she said and raised her arms, pointing one palm out towards each head on either side of her. The energy left her if a sudden blaze of yellow out of each hand (A/N: Think Time Lord regeneration in Doctor Who) and swirled right into her comrades, through their skin and into their very souls.

* * *

The presence could sense that the time was near. Sakuyamon Shine-Maiden Mode was releasing her energy into the other two of the three, determined to fulfil the prophecy. When the time came, he wanted to be in the right place. It had been a long time since he had last came to this world and he was _not_ going to leave empty-handed.

But first he had to find a suitable temporary host. He was not permitted in this world in body, but he was allowed in spirit, and he would be ready. Now where could he find a nice, useful body to inhabit. He looked around, invisible to all at the clumsy humans retreating out of their homes in a bid to escape the approaching evil Ogudomon.

Which body down there would do?

Ah, there was the perfect specimen. It was so perfect in fact that it was ridiculously perfect. Of all the things he had been expecting to encounter running about in the Human World in a Human Settlement, this had been the last one.

His Spirit shot forward and entered his chosen body. His inhabiting it would do it no nasty damage and would have no lasting effects, but it would be extremely useful. Once he had assumed control and assured the host brain that this was only a temporary visit, he turned his new form and raced towards the site where the battle would unfold.

* * *

"So you have returned," said Ogudomon, as his way was suddenly barred by the armoured body of the huge MetalSeadramon. He was still a long way away from the nearest settlement but he could see it in the distance. The forms of the other Digimon spread out and formed a semi-circle around the Mega Demon Lord.

And Ogudomon couldn't help but notice that this time the battlefield had only two giant opponents. "Where are the MegaGargomon and the Cherubimon?"

"None of your business as to where they are, Oggo," sneered Beelzemon. "We don't tell you all of our plans. Hoe stupid do you think we are?"

"The traitor himself," said Ogudomon. "Fortunately for Beelzemon, I have a list of who goes first and you are, although extremely close to the top, not quite up there yet. Now, where is..." His single eye in his head scanned the crowd for the signs of his prey, but she was absent, just as the giants were. "The Sakuyamon is missing too," he said. "Deary me. His gaze fixed on Beelzemon again. In that case, Beelzemon, since my first three targets are not here, that puts you first."

"I was fourth?" roared Beelzemon. "Now that's cut me deep. Shotgun first go at him, literally." He pulled out the two shotguns from his back and leg holsters.

"By all means, Beelzemon," said Gallantmon.

"**ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"** Ogudomon charged at the traitorous Demon Lord, knowing the attacks would not work but hoping that Beelzemon would go between his legs so he could hit him with a Catedral.

But to his surprise, Beelzemon back-pedalled. **"DOUBLE IMPACT!" **he roared, emptying both barrels into Ogudomon's head and then restoring them to their original places. The other Digimon fanned out, as Ogudomon carried on relentlessly towards Beelzemon.

"Beelzemon!" called Justimon. "Give me some cover! Blind him!"

"Can do!" hollered Beelzemon back. Berenjena appeared out of nowhere and Beelzemon turned a circle and flapped upwards, until he was level with his adversary's head. He began to draw lines in the end with the tip, forming the pentagram which Ogudomon had seen many times now and creating the strange symbol in the air.

Ogudomon hated this attack. It was one of the most powerful ones that his enemies had.

"**CORONA DESTROYER!"**

Firing repeated Blasts of pink energy into the symbol, Beelzemon roared as the symbol increased it twentyfold and the beam shot out the other side and slammed into Ogudomon's face, halting his charge and making him stagger backwards. With one hand, Beelzemon adjusted the direction of the beam by moving the symbol, so all Ogudomon was see was pink energy out of that eye.

Justimon took advantage of this and swooped in, aiming for the nearest sword, the one on his backmost leg. Like a meteorite, almost leaving a trail of stardust behind him, he swung in over the leg and brought down his cybernetic arm.

"**THUNDER CLAP!"**

He slammed it down on the leg itself with such force that the entire leg buckled and sagged, momentarily limp. Justimon leapt upwards and grabbed the hilt of the sword that was twice his own height in both hands, taking advantage of the slack legs. With a massive wrench the sword came free. It was heavy, but Justimon was strong. With a heave he performed a one-eighty tossed the sword earthwards. It embedded itself in the ground. The wave of pink energy from Beelzemon ceased.

"What it this?" demanded Ogudomon as fear gripped him. He was beginning to see where this was going. They had figured out what the swords did and were saving the best until last.

He'd be damned if he let that happen.

"THIS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO ON!" he roared to all present. "I SHALL DESTROY YOU!"

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before, ye daft sod," said Beelzemon. "And yet, here we are."

Ogudomon looked around and located the Demon Lord insulting him. "You will fall with the humans Beelzemon. **CATEDRAL!"**

"**COPY PASTE!"**

"Raagh!" Ogudomon was thrown off course by HiAndromon's counter. He needed to remember that one. He turned to attack the android but he had already vanished, whipped out of the way by Mihiramon. His eye focused, searching for another victim and it fell on Plesiomon. The giant should be easier to take down than the others. He was an easy hit and not armoured.

"**ORATIO GRANDILOQUA!"** He charged. Plesiomon stood his ground, before water seemed to leak from his tail and flow right over his body, like a wet coat. It ballooned outwards to form a familiar sphere of rippling water. Then Plesiomon charged too.

"**HYDRO IMPACT CRUSHER!"**

The two attacks collided with each other at tremendous speed, causing both to halt and push against each other. Ogudomon had the power, but Plesiomon had the versatility. He remained pressed to Ogudomon by his sphere, which abruptly changed and began to shoot across Ogudomon's body in a cold, wet embrace. Ogudomon thrashed, but the water went with him, unlike the ice he had used previously that day, blanketing him.

As his head was immersed he began to panic slightly – there was no reason why he couldn't choke to death. He flailed wildly, desperate to break the water. Plesiomon's flat eyes stared unmercifully at him as he pressed home his attack.

While this was going on, the other Digimon were getting into their designated positions. A certain knight headed for the struggle. Ogudomon had power and was breaking free of Plesiomon's watery grip, so Gallantmon had to act fast. Ogudomon was distracted, which allowed Gallantmon to get in close and undetected. He swung under the massive body. The eyes in the legs blinked in shock, although two of them, the ones of legs without swords, looked slightly ill.

Gallantmon aimed his attack at one of the healthy eyes.

"**SHIELD OF THE JUST!"**

The red beam lanced and struck the eye dead on. Ogudomon roared and fell, the leg shooting upwards, the double-joints sending the claws upwards at the unexpected attack. Gallantmon swung around and dug his lance into the skin right beside the sword, the leapt back and yanked it straight out.

"NO!" Ogudomon felt another large section of his power suddenly vanish. He's never even considered what to do should all of his swords be pulled out, such was his overconfidence. He turned to strike at Gallantmon, even though it was too late, but Gallantmon hacked at the oncoming leg with his own sword, causing a yell, before it joined the other in the ground.

Gallantmon swooped away, Ogudomon swinging wildly, when a sudden shadow fell across him. A long, thin one. MetalSeadramon's two tails swung down and wrapped around the sword stuck in his head, pulling it out. Tossing it casually aside, the giant sea serpent, then struck with an **"ENERGY BLAST!"**

The thin stream of fire shot from his mouth and spread across Ogudomon's chin. As this was happening, the tails lashed out again and grabbed one of the legs just under the knee jointed. Abruptly, MetalSeadramon halted his attack and his body coiled as it followed his head, across four of the seven legs and around the other side, dragging the leg in his tails with him. He wrapped his thick body once around the legs and held them firmly together.

Now Ogudomon was in real trouble. He was extremely lopsided and unable to use his charge attack, the more ideal of the two for taking out MetalSeadramon. In desperation, he called out **"CATEDRAL!"** over and over again, launching shockwave after shockwave at his attacker. But MetalSeadramon merely grunted as they bounced off his Chrome-Digizoid armour.

He turned his head, coils straining to hold the legs steady and countered with **"RIVER OF POWER!"**

As the beam smashed Ogudomon under the chin, the next designated two moved in. Jijimon and Babamon, mounted on their sticks plunged into the thick of the action. Swerving wildly around the deadly beam issuing from MetalSeadramon's nose, which had thrown back Ogudomon's head, they lunged for the legs that were trapped by his coils.

"This'll be like poetry in motion, dear," said Jijimon.

"We agree on something at last," nodded Babamon. **"DARK BROOM!"**

"**CLAW OF DOOM!"**

The two sticks slashed the air and the waves of energy lashed from each one simultaneously. The two of them had been practicing throughout the afternoon to throw their attacks at precisely the same time and they had finally mastered the skill. It had been added to the list of the few things that both could do.

The waves of energy, one a purplish colour from Babamon, the other a rich orange from Jijimon slammed into their designated targets. This had been done because the two didn't have the physical power to pull out the swords so they had aimed their attacks at each of the guards of the blade. The result was that the sword was knocked outwards – it popped free like a cork from a bottle. It catapulted through the air and wedged itself blade-first into the loam.

Ogudomon yelled and heaved. MetalSeadramon lost his grip on one of the legs. Instantly he unwound himself and shot away, not wanting to risk being hit by the swinging appendages. As a result the yellow stream of energy to his face vanished and Ogudomon was able to see again.

But not for long.

His eye turned to follow the retreating MetalSeadramon when his view was suddenly blocked by a wall of heart-shaped bubbles that seemed to pop out of nowhere. Obviously this was the work of that little pestilence MarineAngemon.

And it was. MarineAngemon was zipping backwards in a wide circle and blowing a continuous stream of bubbles from his mouth which swelled in size until his adversary's head was completely surrounded by them. Ogudomon knew he would never be able to hit the tiny Mega with his legs – he was much too quick.

"**CATEDRAL!"** he tried. As the shockwave ricocheted outwards there was no small yelp of pain. MarineAngemon had evaded the attack. But how?

"**KAHUNA WAVES!"**

MarineAngemon had been hanging low behind Ogudomon's head and above his body where the shockwave would not reach him. Now he launched a barrage of the bubbles at the back of his head. As always Ogudomon was thrown by this assault and he shot forwards. His head struck the wall of bubbles and to his great surprise, bounced right off them, sending him flying the other way, where the same thing happened.

MarineAngemon giggled. He'd turned the Great Super Demon Lord into a living pinball.

Ogudomon was aware of how ridiculous this must have looked and in an attempt to stop himself he spread his legs and attempted to get some leverage in order slow his body down. And as he did so, the next Digimon moved in. GranKuwagamon, wings buzzing, zipped forwards and moved into place. He had to wing around Ogudomon's body in order to reach one of the three remaining legs which contained a sword. Once he reached one he zinged towards it and hooked the massive pincers on his head around the on the hilt.

He buzzed upwards at terrific speed, hauling the sword free of the muscles on Ogudomon's leg until it was dangling from his head. With a jerk, he opened his pincers and the sword fell down, down, down into the ground, joining its brethren there.

Ogudomon was getting really agitated now. This could not be happened to him! He was losing strength fast. He couldn't pierce the wall of bubbles before him as his legs were too long to reach them. He was very surprised when GranKuwagamon tore through the bubbles before him, pincers clacking. But then, once again, he found his vision obscured. All these Digimon kept blinding him so he would not see them coming.

"**GRAND DARKNESS!"** called GranKuwagamon and the blackness descended. Ogudomon could see nothing through it, but he heard GranKuwagamon shoot past his head and away.

Fortunately, this attack he could escape from quite easily. He strode forward, smashing the ground until he emerged from out of the darkness that had surrounded him. A distance away he could see Plesiomon and wondered whether he was going to be assailed by water again.

The next attack came from another direction. Directly above his head.

"**SAMURAI TIGER TAIL!"**

The shape of Mihiramon shot before his eyes and the segmented tail slammed into the base of another sword, battering away at it is if it had a life of its own. The owner leered into his face. "You might think that you are invulnerable but you have been forced bow to the Sovereigns and you shall be forced to bow to us!"

"I wield great powerful, Ultimate scum!" Ogudomon had decided to feign that he did not know why they were pulling out all the swords. "You don't stand a chance against me. No-one in this world does."

"**DEVA BLADE!"**

"**TREASURE BOW!"**

"**VENOM AXE!"**

Three more attacks came from below. Ogudomon looked down to see the other three Devas were shooting up at him, Vajramon wildly swinging his swords and the yellow beams shooting from them, Pajiramon firing continuous bolts from her crossbow and Sandiramon shooting purple axe-shaped globs of acid from his mouth. The focal point was the sword that Mihiramon was attacking, but none of the attacks were having the desired effect.

_It seemed they are running out of ideas,_ Ogudomon thought to himself. _I can see them and they're puny attacks on the swords. Do they really think some Ultimates could get one out?_ That was a laugh and since they only came with one attack at a time, these four were unprotected.

He would have fun picking them off.

"**CATEDR..."**

"**DARKNESS CLAW!"**

Ogudomon cursed himself and his arrogance. He had let the Ultimates distract him as his old friend Beelzemon had approached from behind. Beelzemon had winged forward, slaloming wildly between the legs and brought the tips of his fingers plunging into Ogudomon's legs on either side of the sword that the Devas were not attacking. Having loosened the blade he spring-boarded off the leg and grabbed the hilt, pulling it free. He struck the flat of the blade squarely with his boot and it spiralled down.

"Curse you! Curse you all!" Ogudomon roared. Mihiramon calmly shot away and Beelzemon flapped down. Gallantmon and Justimon also seemed to appear from nowhere and each of the ground-based Devas were grabbed in strong hands and whipped to safety.

Ogudomon knew they couldn't do that again. There was only one sword left sticking in his body and he was not going to let anyone get anywhere near it. He readied himself to launch a shockwave at the first enemy who came within range.

When he saw who it was heading to attack him, his spirits sank. These Tamers and their friends had planned out everything, anticipating his every move. They knew that he would launch Catedral at the nearest attacker with one sword remaining, which is why they'd saved HiAndromon until last. And flying low to the ground directly behind him was Gryphonmon.

"NO!" he bellowed. "You shall not win. I am invincible!"

"Tell that to Anubimon when you finally meet him!" replied the voice of Gryphonmon's tail.

"For once we agree on something," said Gryphonmon.

"**CATEDRAL!"** yelled Ogudomon desperately, launching the shockwave at the incoming pair.

But, as usual, **"COPY PASTE!"** HiAndromon brought up his hands and absorbed it before throwing it back with a burst. Gryphonmon behind him added **"SOLAR ROAR!"** and the two shockwaves pounded into Ogudomon with the strength of a tidal wave, pile-driving him backwards.

But Gryphonmon did not let up his attack. His mouth remained wide and he continued to screech with an eagle-like edge and the shockwaves streamed from his mouth like a torrent of water. He shifted position so he was above HiAndromon, who activated the jets placed in his boots and took off from the ground.

Ogudomon was barely able to hear anything over Gryphonmon's constant assault but he knew that his only hope was that HiAndromon slipped up and missed deflecting the shockwave. He launched volley after volley, but Gryphonmon, with his hawk-like vision, picked out the movements and tapped HiAndromon on the back with his tail, and so HiAndromon would immediately throw up his hands and block.

They got closer and close, Ogudomon stepping backwards and away as fast as possible, but that was very slowly as he generally needed five feet on the ground at once to support his bulk. The shockwaves passing between the two sides were shattering the ground and anything flying through could instantly have been killed.

Eventually they came close enough. HiAndromon's hands morphed together into the ray gun and he launched his attack at point-blank range into Ogudomon's eye. **"ATOMIC RAY!"**

Ogudomon staggered and fell, crashing to the ground. Gryphonmon and HiAndromon followed, sweeping to the one remaining sword. The leg reached up to trash at them, but Gryphonmon shot forward. **"MÖBIUS BITE!" **he latched his mouth around the leg under the sword and wrestled to keep that part as still as possible, while HiAndromon jetted around and grabbed the hilt of the sword. Propelling himself backwards with his jets he hauled it free.

Ogudomon felt that last of his almighty strength drain. As he got to his feet he knew that he could be killed by something like a Sovereign now. The nullifying power was still in effect so none of these Digimon could kill him. He wasn't beaten yet.

"All the swords are out!" HiAndromon called. "Give the signal."

Some distance off, Gallantmon nodded and brought his lance to bear, pointing straight up into the sky. **"LIGHTNING JOUST!" **he called and shot a beam of energy from it, creating a pillar of light.

* * *

"There it is," said Cherubimon. "They've done it."

"Let's go bust some Demon Lord arse," said both parts of MegaGargomon.

"Not in front of the kid," said Sakuyamon.

"Oops, sorry."

* * *

"NONE OF YOU CAN BEAT ME! I AM OGUDOMON!"

"We know who you are," said Beelzemon. "So let me cut your little monologue short and say, look behind you."

Ogudomon's head swivelled around. His eye widened. There, heading towards him, was the Sakuyamon he had sworn to defeat. But there was something different about he. Her armour was slightly different and studded with opals and she had a long, flowing, white cape.

"You're time has come, Ogudomon," said Sakuyamon Miko Mode. "Fanglongmon will return and it is his will that you be destroyed. You are long overdue for your death, so let's see if we can help you on your way. **"AMETHYST WIND!!"**

Ogudomon felt pain. Pain at the attack. Fortunately it was only aimed in the direction of his feet, but it felt like they were being torn to shreds. The purple shards rained down into the ground. "That's not a very good aim," he attempted to leer.

"Isn't it?" asked Sakuyamon. "I wasn't aiming for you." Ogudomon paused and looked down just in time to see all of the swords embedded in the ground disappear, disintegrating into data. Was there no hope for him now?

"I don't need those to deal with you," he cried.

"That's a lie and you know it. **SPIRIT STRIKE!"** The tube on her belt opened and the four elemental foxes darted out and swarmed around Ogudomon's head, biting and clawing him. He shrieked as they opened up many parts of his head and one of them even managed to partly scar his eye. Outside of this attack, he heard a loud thud.

The foxes returned to their master, who was now flanked by MegaGargomon and Cherubimon. Sakuyamon opened her hands again and poured more of the strange energy into her two fellow Chosen Digimon, who each began to glow with a strong light, although you could still see their features.

"Let's finish this guy off, bro!" cried Cherubimon, raising her arms.

"Time for a combo, sis," answered MegaGargomon, the sockets opening all across his body.

Ogudomon attempted to back away but it was too late. The sibling Megas roared, not two, but four attacks to the sky.

"**MEGA BARRAGE/STORM OF JUDGEMENT!"**

"**GARGO MISSILES/LIGHTNING SPEAR!"**

Lightning bolts and missiles began to fall on him like heavy, explosive and massive raindrops. He had never felt pain like this. He was being bombarded right across his body and there was no escape. He staggered, falling, to become a smouldering wreck. He screeched in pain as he was beaten into the ground, weaker than he'd ever been, weaker than when the Sovereigns had beaten him before. Gaping holes opened in his body where he was struck by bolts or missiles.

How were they doing this? They were not Sovereigns.

Eventually, the Mega Barrage and the Storm of Judgement ceased. The smoke cleared and he saw his fate. The result of the second two attacks were heading his way – two enormous smiling missiles on each side and a massive lightning bolt coming down the centre. All three smashed into his head with a colossal explosion.

Ogudomon didn't even have time to cry out. He shattered into billions of particles.

It took a couple of seconds for anybody to comprehend what they were seeing as the particles began to float skyward. Then there was cheering. Tremendous, earth-shaking cheering. Fists punched the air as the Digimon celebrated the defeat of that who it was said couldn't be defeated. There was hugging all around, nobody caring who it was they grabbed.

Ogudomon was gone. Dead at last.

Suddenly the particles hanging in mid-air stopped and reversed, heading down towards the ground again. Everyone immediately tensed. Was he somehow reforming himself? How could anyone cheat death like this?

But then they saw that the particles were zooming, with the force of being caught in a hurricane into a small, black hole hanging in mid-air. It appeared to be a portal of some kind. And standing behind it was one of the last creatures that anyone had expected to see.

"It's about time," said the creature. "Ogudomon should have entered my realm a very long time ago. I must thank you Tamers for finally bringing about his destruction. Perhaps now I can get back on schedule."

"Isis?" asked Terriermon, still half in MegaGargomon. For it was indeed the jackal that had assisted himself and Renamon to escape from the clutches of Goro.

(A/N: You didn't really think I'd forgotten about her, did you?)

"Not quite," said Isis, in a distinct masculine voice, despite the fact that she was a female. "This body belongs to your friend Isis the jackal, but she has made the perfect temporary host for me, and rest assured when I say it is temporary. I cannot enter this world inside my body so I came in spirit. I am Anubimon."

"Anubimon?" breathed Pajiramon, before kneeling, as did the other three Devas and Cherubimon. MegaGargomon had to repress a snort. Isis may be inhabited by the Lord of the Digimon Deleted but it still looked ridiculous bowing to her.

"You need not bow to me," said Anubimon. "I have only come because I sensed that the time for the prophecy to unfold was nigh. It has come after a good length of time. Longer than I had anticipated. It might not have come about at all if it were not for your friend Alice."

"She was the one that told us," said Henry. "But it was Ebonwumon that told her."

"No it wasn't," said Anubimon. "It was I who told her. Ebonwumon allowed me to momentarily possess him in order to give my message to Alice. He won't remember a thing about it though, I wiped his memory. Both of them."

"So you knew about the prophecy?" asked Gallantmon. "Why couldn't you have just come to tell us like this as some point?"

"As has been explained I cannot interfere with the land of the living directly, but I can help to steer it in the right direction, which is what I did. I knew of the Prophecy because Fanglongmon and I are linked. He governs the Living and I the Dead and we maintain a balance in the Digital World. Now, I am aware that there are some things that Fanglongmon wishes me to do in this world before I leave, so allow me to get right down to them. For your valiant efforts Tamers, I hereby reward you by restoring to you one who was lost."

"What?" asked Justimon. "What are you talking about?"

"As you are aware, I can send Digimon who are deleted back to the land of the living if their data is not absorbed by another. But in the land of the living," Anubimon turned Isis' eyes on Beelzemon. "I have the ability to restore those whose data has been absorbed."

All three of Beelzemon's eyes widened. "You mean...?" he trailed off, as Isis approached.

"This might pinch a little," said Anubimon, eyes narrowing. Beelzemon suddenly yelped as particles began to stream off him, and yet he remained whole. The particles swirled and spiralled to the ground, where they took on the familiar shape of a Digi-egg. Beelzemon stared down at it.

"Is that... Leomon?" he asked.

"Yes," said Anubimon. "It is. But I am afraid I am not done yet. Hold still."

Beelzemon cried out again as yet more data came out of him and they swirled down to the ground to form two more Digi-eggs. "I present to the Devas two of their fallen brethren – Makuramon and Caturamon. Does that please you?"

"Yes and no," said Sandiramon. "Makuramon was not a favourite of ours."

Isis turned to Justimon. "I must ask you to de-digivolve so that I may restore the final Deva, Majiramon."

Cyberdramon growled. "Cyberdramon," warned Ryo. "You still have plenty of data in you. Just let this go, alright." With that he glowed and reverted to his two forms. Cyberdramon jerked as data began to peel from him too, to form a fourth Digi-egg.

"I have done my part," said Anubimon, somehow causing the face of his host to smile. "I bid you farewell." With that a ghost-like apparition of a humanoid jackal Digimon rose from out of Isis' body and swept through the portal, along with the last of Ogudomon's data, which closed in a blink. Isis looked startled, suddenly finding herself surrounded by many giants. MegaGargomon quickly de-digivolved, as did all of those who were able, and Isis ran to and attempted to hide behind Terriermon.

Rika looked down at the Digi-eggs and noticed something on the floor, out of the corner of her eye. Something pink. Looking down, she saw the sakura that Touma had given to her lying of the floor. She picked it up carefully. "We'd better take this back soon she said. Renamon nodded

Impmon picked up Leomon's Digi-egg, the traces of wetness in his eyes. "I don't believe it. Wait until I tell Jeri. She'll be so happy. Destroying Ogudomon will make her day, but giving her this while make her world."

"You've done well, Impmon," said Renamon. "Far more than you ever needed to give."

Impmon rubbed his eyes with one glove and grinned up at the fox. Then he frowned and looked around. "You know, it's funny, but what with the rise of Fanglongmon, I thought it would be more..."

A sudden colossal boom and an eruption of white light.

"...Explosive!" finished Impmon, shouting to be heard.

The light fountained upwards to form another portal, a much larger one made of light rather than dark. The Tamers and Digimon backed away from it, and through it, stepped the biggest Digimon any of them had ever seen, even bigger than Azulongmon. A colossal four-eyed, brown, spiny scaled, four-legged dragon with massive brown ridges running down his back, neck, legs, tail and around his eyes. He roared to the sky.

Fanglongmon had risen again at last.

* * *

Hooray! Ogudomon is gone. Whoop-de-doo. Huzzah! Heal the world! Aargh! Yeeheeheehee. I'll shut up now.

By the way, if you want to see a picture that I based Sakuyamon Miko Mode on, see the link on my profile.

* * *

Next time, the story will conclude with...

**

* * *

**

Chapter 20 : A Second Aftermath


	20. A Second Aftermath

Well, here goes nothing. The finale of "A Sticky Situation" the story that I have managed to actually finish – possible because it's the first one I've posted on the internet. I always believed if you post even one chapter on the internet you should carry it through to the end no matter how long it takes you. I hate it when people leave stories unfinished. That's why I have written numerous stories in the past and never posted them – because I have commitment issues with them.

But do not worry reviewers, unless you don't like Star Wars, then worry, because I will be writing a sequel to this story. Not right away – it may take me some time to get round to it, but it will happen – a crossover between Digimon and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I've decided that once I finish writing my own book, which I have deliberately put on the backburner while writing this story because I wanted to improve my writing skills with this.

But more about that at the end of this chapter, which will contain a lot of Terriermon/Renamon fluff. For now:-

**

* * *

**

A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 20:- A Second Aftermath**

* * *

Fanglongmon's four blazing red eyes stared down at the scene below. The Digimon were staring back at him with looks of awe and reverence on their faces. He got this wherever he went, being the Digimon God. He had to admit it did sometimes get a little irritating, but at other times he was indifferent to it all. He knew that when he returned to the Digital World, he'd get a lot of reverence from the Sovereigns too. He was about the only Digimon ever that Zhuqiaomon would ever bow too.

But he was no going to be here for very long. He was here merely to do what he felt must be done. The prophecy had been fulfilled at last. He had deliberately sealed himself away in an alternate dimension, as a God was only supposed to interfere when things were extremely bad. But the seal he had set had now been broken, thanks to the valiant efforts of the Digimon stood before him. None of them were any less important in the grand scheme of things, even though the prophecy had been about a particular three.

He spoke with his mind, entering the brains of all the Digimon and Humans staring up at him. _Would the Renamon, Terriermon and Lopmon please step forward._

Terriermon swallowed nervously. This Digimon put Ogudomon to shame. It looked like he could practically crush the giant Ogudomon under one foot and have done with it. But he was the Digimon God. He was sure that Fanglongmon did not present them with any threat. Didn't he?

_No,_ said Renamon. _Trust me when I say that he shall not harm us. He is a pure hearted as they come and I can feel no evil emanating from him. Come._

_Well, I never thought this would happen,_ said Lopmon._ And I used to be a Deva. I never expected that I would come face to face with the Digimon God himself._

_Well you always stood a bigger chance than me,_ said Terriermon as he began to step forwards, his sister right beside him and his mate striding behind the two. _So, what do we do? Do we bow?_

_I suppose,_ said Renamon. _Surely he would take it as a massively rude gesture if we refrained from doing so._

Henry watched as his partner walked towards the great dragon God. He couldn't help feel slightly nervous himself. There was something about the huge sense of power that almost seemed to leak from Fanglongmon. He shuffled his feet and forced himself to remain calm.

He felt a cold hand intertwine with his own. Glancing to the side, he saw that Rika had stood up next to him. She smiled reassuringly at him and he nodded in acknowledgement. Suzie came up on his other side and grabbed his arm to help reassure herself.

Renamon, Terriermon and Lopmon stopped right in front of Fanglongmon. Renamon knelt down on one knee and bowed he head in a sign of respect, while Terriermon and Lopmon both got down on their knees and did the same. It was a true mark of respect on Terriermon's part. He had never thought he would bow before anyone.

"Please rise," said Fanglongmon, this time with his voice. "I do not think that pleasantries are going to be absolutely necessary. My visit to the Human World will be brief." Renamon, Terriermon and Lopmon got to their feet. "First of all, I wish to congratulate all of you for your valiant efforts on the battlefield over the last few days and especially you three for taking on your parts in the prophecy so quickly."

"Well, it was either that on eventually getting ripped to pieces by those claws of his," said Terriermon. Renamon and Lopmon threw him a look each, but Fanglongmon merely chuckled.

"Indeed," he said. "But that doesn't make it any less demanding for you. You have faced many challenges in the past years and yet you have always come out on top. But I am aware that you have your whole life ahead of you and I know for a fact that you will all face many other challenges in your lives. And, I'm afraid, you three in particular, will have more challenges thrown at you than your friends."

"What do you mean?" asked Renamon. "Is there any more information you can give."

"I know everything that is going to happen to all Digimon in the future, until the end of time itself," said Fanglongmon. "But I am afraid that I cannot divulge any of it to you. I can warn you, as I am doing now, to be on your guard, but rest assured – you have a good deal of time before you will be required to battle again."

"That's a relief," said Terriermon. "I'd hate for some whopping great big Mega to come storming through right now – I don't know about everyone else, but I know I am exhausted. I could do with a good night's sleep."

"I see that Anubimon has carried out the task I set for him," said Fanglongmon, glancing at the three Deva Digieggs on the ground, and Leomon's egg held in Impmon's gloved hands. "But he shall not be the only one to reward you. I too shall give you a few blessings."

"I quite like the look of a new Xbox 360 if you do requests," said Terriermon.

"I'm afraid you will have to convince your Tamer to get that," said Fanglongmon. "But here is my gift to you."

There was a suddenly thwumping noise a pulse of energy suddenly ricocheted out of the Digimon God's entire body and fanned outwards. It washed over Digimon and humans alike and did absolutely nothing to them.

"Er," said Lopmon. "What was that, my lord?"

Suddenly, Kazu's phone rang. He looked sheepish and answered. "Yeah, look I... What? ... You're kidding... Oh dude, that's awesomeness itself... Nah, it's the Digimon God Fanglongmon... You bet your ass we did... Look, gotta go."

He hung up and grinned at Fanglongmon. "Thanks dude!" he called. Then he turned to the others and said, "That was Kenta. He said that Tokyo has suddenly reformed itself and all the buildings have, sort of, re-emerged from the rubble."

"Our homes are back," cheered Takato.

"We can make bread again," Guilmon yelled gleefully.

"Thank you, Fanglongmon," said Renamon, overhearing these pieces of information. "You have our heartfelt gratitude."

"I know," said Fanglongmon. "And now, I must return to the Digital World. I hereby reopen all portals to the Digital World. And one more thing..." The dragon opened his huge mouth and suddenly a swarm of Digi-Gnomes shot right out of it.

"Oh, so that's where they come from," said Lopmon.

"Not the way I would choose to be born, but what can you do?" said Terriermon, with a slight shudder. "Vomited out. Eurgh."

"I assure you, I brush my teeth twice a day," said Fanglongmon.

"Say what?"

"Fanglongmon," said Rika. "Does this mean that everything in the Digital World will sort itself out now that your back."

Fanglongmon shook his head. "A God is not allowed to interfere directly in the problems of the world. They are allowed to deal with the after-effects, as I have now done, but we must leave the running of the world to man. Just as with Anubimon, I cannot interfere directly, but I can assist other to do so. Farewell Tamers. I shall see you again someday. That I know. But for now, I must set the Digital World straight before I seal myself away again, and get Valkyriemon to give another prophecy. I assure you that this one will contain no German Words."

This brought a bought of laughter. Fanglongmon shut his eyes and the massive portal reopened behind him. He turned around and stalked into it. Then, he looked over his shoulder and said, "This portal shall remain open until all the Digimon that wish to return to the Digital World have gone through it. Goodbye."

Human and Digimon alike waved as he and the Digi-Gnomes vanished into the yellowness. Then they turned to their comrades.

Lopmon, Terriermon and Renamon returned to the main throng. Lopmon walked straight up to the four Devas. "I guess this is goodbye," she said up to them.

"For now," said Sandiramon. "I'm sure we'll meet again sometime. After all, Fanglongmon said you have many struggles to come."

"An ominous message if ever there was one," said Henry.

"Momentai Henry," said Terriermon. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I fully intend to kick back and relax for a straight week."

"Farewell, Lopmon," said Vajramon, clomping up to the little bunny, and picking up the Digi-eggs of Catsuramon and Makuramon. Pajiramon picked up the egg containing Majiramon.

"Yes, goodbye," she said. "Back to servitude for us."

"You may no longer be a Deva, but to us you'll always be kin," said Mihiramon.

"Thanks guys," said Lopmon. She hopped up onto the tiger's shoulders and hugged his neck with her ears, then repeating this action with the others, except Sandiramon, who did not have shoulder so she landed on top of his head instead.

"It's a shame," said Henry. "My sensei would really have wanted to meet you guys."

"Perhaps he will, one day," said Sandiramon. "Goodbye, Tamers."

With that, all four turned and vanished into the portal.

"I guess we better leave too," said MetalSeadramon. "I don't see us fitting in permanently here."

"We've got to return home," said Babamon. "The place will be riddled with dust by now."

"Ah great," moaned Jijimon. "I'll be sneezing for a straight week, just you wait and see."

"It was good to work with you," said Gryphonmon. "You Tamers are truly exceptional."

"I say we did okay ourselves," said his tail.

"Don't ruin the moment," snapped Gryphonmon.

"I must confess I shall miss your Earth food," said Plesiomon. "Particularly those anchovy pizzas of yours."

GranKuwagamon stayed silent but nodded respectfully at the Tamers. One by one, the Mega Digimon who had come to the Human World to assist in the destruction of Ogudomon filed past the Tamers and their Digimon and into the portal. The Tamers waved them off. As the back end of Plesiomon disappeared into the light, the portal closed with a snap.

Renamon knelt and picked up Isis in her arms as Takato turned to the group and smiled. "Let's go home," he said.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE LEFT!" wailed Kenta. "I WANTED TO SEE FANGLONGMON TOO YOU KNOW! COULDN'T YOU HAVE HAD HIM HANG AROUND A LITTLE UNTIL I GOT TO SEE HIM?"

As Kenta berated Kazu, Jeri watched with an amused face. She too was disappointed not to have seen Fanglongmon, but she hid it far better than Kenta did. The others had returned sans the Digimon from the Digital World and were looking out over the city that Fanglongmon had rebuilt in ten seconds flat. They were watching as the first of the people began to return to their homes, not knowing how the hell they had manage to rebuild themselves after being crushed by a rampaging Demon Digimon

Something tugged at her dress. She looked down to see Impmon standing beside her, looking up at her with a genuine nervousness in his eyes. "What is it, Impmon," she smiled at him.

"I... That is... I wanted to... I need to..." Impmon stammered, hiding something behind his back. Something white, as Jeri could still see the sides poking out from behind him.

"What's that, Impmon?" she nodded at it.

Impmon shifted his foot and produced the Digi-egg from behind his back and held it up to her. "This is a gift to you from Anubimon himself," he said.

Jeri stared at the Digi-egg. Hope seemed to surge within her, but she squashed it flat. It couldn't be... It just couldn't. His data had been uploaded.

Nevertheless she could not stop herself from saying, "Is... Is that... Leomon?"

Impmon smiled shyly and nodded. "Yes."

Jeri's spirit exploded with joy as she gently knelt down and took the Digi-egg gingerly from Impmon's grasp. It was smooth as she rubbed her hand across it. She wandered if Leomon knew that he was back in the hands of his Tamer. She carefully put it on the ground and pulled Impmon into a hug. Impmon looked startled, but returned it, slightly unsure of himself.

This was the best day of Jeri's life.

* * *

Nearby, a set of grey eyes watched as Jeri was given her Digi-egg by the one who had taken her Digimon from her in the first place. Alice sighed, hiding in the bushes. Jeri had Leomon back now, but she was still without her best friend. Dobermon was still not there. She overheard Impmon say that Anubimon had given it as a gift. Well what about her?

"Alice."

She jerked in shock and surprise, her head whirling around. She didn't believe what she was seeing. For there he was – Dobermon was standing right behind her, his face looking at her with wonder and joy. After a couple of seconds of frantic panting, desperately trying to find out if her eyes were deceiving her, Alice reached up and stroked the side of the giant dog's face.

"Dobermon?"

"Yes, Alice. I have returned. Anubimon has sent me back to this world at last. Now that this whole business is over, I hope that we can resume life as normal. And this time I will not have to give up my life."

Alice leapt upwards and hugged Dobermon, carefully avoiding his spiked collar. Dobermon was not her partner, and never had been, but he was her best friend. Neither had any desire to take part in any fighting. Alice clambered onto Dobermon's back and Dobermon set off, disappearing into the woods.

* * *

Takato Matsuki returned to his bakery ahead of schedule, at the insistence of his partner, who wished to have some bread. He would have to wait a little because first Takato had to bake some more, but once they got underway, there was little messing around. Guilmon stared hopefully at the oven, willing time to go faster. Unfortunately, it didn't, but eventually the bread was done.

As the two of them feasted on it, Mie and Takehiro hustled through the front door. Takato stood, and Mie flung her arms around his neck. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," she practically started crying into his shoulder. "I was so worried I would lose you this time."

"I'm alright, Mum," said Takato, returning the embrace.

Takehiro clapped Takato on the back. "You did good son. Yamaki told us all about what happened and how it worked. We just want you to know that we are so proud of you. Who would have thought that you'd turn out to be so responsible at such a young age?"

"Thanks Dad," said Takato.

"And you Guilmon," said Takehiro. "We owe you our thanks for helping to keep our boy safe."

"Nothing could make me stop, even if you stopped giving me bread," said Guilmon. Then he paused and practically yelped, "But please don't. I want to keep eating my bread. I had to go a whole year without it in the Digital World."

The Matsuki family laughed. "Don't worry, Guilmon," said Mie. "You'll still get plenty of bread, although you may not get as much as you'd like, or we'd go bankrupt."

"Aw, but I want lots of bread."

"If we went bankrupt, we would not be able to afford to pay to get all your bread."

"NOOOOO! I'll restrain myself! I swear!"

Another round of laughs.

* * *

Jeri Katou strolled up to her house, Leomon's Digi-egg clutched protectively in her arms. She had lost him once. She would not lose him again, no matter what the circumstances. But Jeri felt a sensation of joy inside her. She was a Tamer again. She had her beloved partner back. She no longer felt like just an add-on to the team. Even if she had not been that much help this time, she would be prepared to assist in all ways possible in the future.

With her was Calumon, who would still be sharing her house, even though she had her partner back, as he had taken a great liking to her and her little brother, who liked to play tag almost as much as he did.

"Hey, Jeri," said Calumon. "When do you think it'll hatch? When, huh? Will it be soon? What's it gonna be? What comes before Leomon? Do you know? Do you? Do you? Do you?"

Jeri chuckled at the Catalyst's enthusiastic approach. "I don't know the answer to any of those questions, Calumon. We'll just have to wait and see."

"But that's boring," said Calumon. "I don't want to sit and wait. I'll play tag with your little brother until then."

"Well it might be for a while," said Jeri. "But I hope it's soon. It can't wait."

"Ne neither," said Calumon. "I always like Leomon. He was so brave."

"No," said Jeri. "He _is_ so brave."

When she got home, she found her father, Tadashi, and her stepmother, Shizue, already waiting for her. Tadashi glanced at the egg in her hands.

"That's must have been some chicken," he chuckled. "Or was it an ostrich?"

Jeri smiled and held up the egg. "You remember my partner, Leomon? Well, this is him. He's back.

Shizue frowned. "Back? But we already have one Digimon under our roof. Is it wise to have another? I can barely take the energy that Calumon has as it is."

"Don't worry," said Jeri. "Leomon is a lot calmer than Calumon. And he can look after himself. He's a big, tough warrior. You could almost call him the perfect role model for Masahiko. Leomon could teach him how to be a proper and polite person." She paused. "But I don't know where he's going to sleep."

* * *

Ryo Akiyama chose a more stylish way of getting home than walking, riding on his partners back. He wondered just how his dad was going to take this. His mum didn't seem to have a problem with Cyberdramon, as far as was possible not to have a problem with his constant bloodthirstiness, but his father didn't really approve of Digimon period. All in all it was a good thing that Cyberdramon chose to live on the roof most of the time. He said it was easier to spring up and get going if he sensed an enemy. Occasionally he came in if the weather got terrible, like heavy rain or hail, but mostly he stayed outside.

Ryo looked back on the whole debacle with Ogudomon and felt that it had been a rather team-building thing. Beforehand it had mostly been the Golden Trio of Takato, Henry and Rika with their partners, with him as a spare due to his sparseness, but he felt the group had now become more tight-knit. Even Rika seemed to have put her quarrel with him aside. He found he quite liked the effect.

He wondered how his father would take to him suggesting to transfer schools.

Cyberdramon landed with a thunk in front of the house, scaring away a couple of cats. Ryo hopped down and unlocked the front door. Cyberdramon shouldered his way through the doorframe and headed straight for the fridge, pulling out a carton of milk which had gone past it's expiry date and guzzling it straight down.

"Easy, Cyberdramon, I know you're hungry," said Ryo. "But be patient – you take up a lot of resources."

Cyberdramon growled. Ryo glanced at him. "You're anticipating those battles Fanglongmon mentioned already, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Cyberdramon. "Eagerly. The next few months are going to pass slowly for me."

Ryo chuckled. "No restraining you, is there? Why do I even try?"

"What do you want from me?"

Ryo blinked, then palmed his face. "How come Terriermon has more of an effect on you than I do?"

Cyberdramon actually chuckled, before plonking himself down on the floor and ripping a box of chicken wings open with his claws.

* * *

Kazu Shioda also took the route home by riding on top of his partner. He was as pleased as anything. He had finally distinguished himself in battle. Up to this whole Ogudomon event he had possibly been the weakest of the Tamers in terms of his partner, but not now.

He had to say he was pleased to score the final blow against weakening Ogudomon by taking out the final sword alongside Gryphonmon, but he thought to himself that he would not boast about this. This was most unlike him, as usually he liked everyone to know of his triumphs – but the destruction of some many places had mellowed him out a little, you could say knocked some sense into him.

Guardromon finally landed and carefully negotiated the flowerbeds in the little front garden. Under normal circumstances he was too wide to fit through the front door, but a quick biomerge late and HiAndromon stepped through it before splitting back apart in the kitchen.

"At least now, I won't have to sit and rust anymore than I have outside," said Guardromon.

Kazu nodded. "Mum can't complain," he said. "You can't squash her flowers now and you don't need to be fed. Perhaps now you could be more accepted into the family. Guardromon?"

"Yes?"

"Have you noticed the way that our little gang, the Tamers, seems to be pairing up. First Takato and Jeri have their sights set on each other, even if they have yet to do anything ... I mean, how dumb are they – it's so obvious ... and then Renamon and Terriermon get together, and now Henry and Rika. I wonder if I'll ever find a girl."

"Do not be too hard on yourself, Kazu," said Guardromon. "It was pure luck that Renamon and Terriermon got together, and you have some time yet to find a girl for yourself. What about Jeri's friend, that Ayaka, or Miki. They seemed nice."

"Maybe," said Kazu. "Thanks bud."

The door banged open and his parents, Hirofumi and Takako, stood there. "What is that thing doing in my house!" yelled his mother, Takako.

"And people wonder why I have issues," Kazu sighed.

* * *

Kenta Kitagawa walked home. He didn't exactly have the option of riding on his partner, who was, as usual riding in his trouser pocket. Of all the Tamers, Kenta had had the least trouble convincing his partner to stay, as although he was the most powerful of the partner Digimon in their usual forms, he also was the smallest and easiest to keep, as he had virtually no appetite and didn't skip around constantly like Calumon.

Kenta remembered the tearful face of his mother when the order to evacuate Tokyo had begun. MarineAngemon and he resolved to be "extra-special nice" to her when they got back home. His parents worried about him a lot, almost too much in his opinion, and it was really thanks to them that Kenta had developed his cautious nature.

But Kenta was still a little annoyed right now, since he had not been able to see Fanglongmon, nor could he biomerge with his partner ever. I mean, granted, the two kids Ai and Mako couldn't biomerge either, but still...

MarineAngemon knew that his partner was upset and tried to console him with the few words that came out of his mouth. "No sad. Matter?"

Kenta sighed and explained his little problem. MarineAngemon frowned. Truth be told he was thinking exactly the same thing. Often he wondered what it would have been like if Kenta had found him before the Shining Digivolution had turned him into a Mega. He almost giggled – Kenta would be the only Tamer to shrink during a biomerge, but he would have been able to flit about like none of the others, and that in itself was exhilarating.

Kenta finally reached his house to find that his parents were not yet there. That surprised him, they would have rushed home as fast as possible to see him. Perhaps they were just further away. He sat on the table and flicked on the TV. MarineAngemon hovered behind him... and then felt a tingly feeling in his stomach. He suddenly glowed and grew. He blinked, and then instantly reverted back to MarineAngemon. He flicked back and forth a few times between his Mega form and his Rookie form, which happened to be Gomamon. Then he grinned and flitted before Kenta to tell him.

The Digi-Gnome outside arced away.

* * *

Beelzemon shot through the air, wings barely flapping, and his partners Ai and Mako clutched to his chest in each hand. The two five year olds whooped excitedly as the wind rushed around them. They had done this many times over the last week-and-a-half but that didn't stop it from feeling any less exhilarated each time. Their mum reckoned that they were too young to go on rollercoasters, but this was still awesome.

Beelzemon landed just as his faithful bike Behemoth rounded the corner. Beelzemon grinned and set the children down, before de-digivolving and walking over to the bike. Impmon wondered what had become of it, whether Behemoth had had the sense to flee Ogudomon's purge, or whether it had been crushed along with the buildings and rebuilt by Fanglongmon. He stroked the side and the bike _prummed_ at him.

"That is a wicked cool bike, Impmon," said Mako. "You reckon we can have a ride sometime."

"What, flying ain't good enough for ye?" smirked Impmon. "But, yeah, 'course you can. After all, you guys are Tamers and you gotta get used to a life of battles if what Fanglongmon said is right. And I reckon it is."

"They'll do nothing of the sort," exclaimed a voice. The three turned as the mother of the two, Haruhi Terada, rounded the corner, having heard the last thing that Impmon said. "They're five years old! How dare you come in here and start to tell my children they're going to live a life of danger. Now leave before I make you."

"Lady," said Impmon, who had become a little used to the scathing glances she flung his way when she thought he wasn't looking. "Ye gotta face the facts. You're too late. Ai and Mako are already my Tamers, and they ain't got a problem with me. Heck, I don't think you see what you got here in the shape of me. I am class protection."

"You're a menace," countered Haruhi.

"Really?" In a flash, Impmon had become Beelzemon again. He pulled out his shotguns and twirled them like a cowboy. "'Ow many humans you reckon are gonna try and harm these kids with someone like me 'anging around."

Haruhi backed up, but could find no retort to this. "My point proven," said Beelzemon. Ai and Mako cheered. As Beelzemon de-digivolved, he said, "Hey, you reckon there's such a thing as biomerging with two people instead of just one?"

* * *

Rika Nonaka and Renamon strode down the streets. They were hailed by the few people who had already returned to the city with cheers. Rika sighed. She liked the action but she was not a fan of publicity, something her mother had finally taken into account, and she no longer dragged her to photoshoots.

"Nice to keep our lives private," said Rika.

"Indeed," said Renamon. "I know that humans thirst for knowledge. I wonder what will happen when they find out I'm mated to Terriermon."

"It'll probably be all over the news," said Rika. "They'll post a big picture of the two of you and the front page of the newspaper will blare "FOX AND RABBIT MATED! People will like that – after all foxes generally eat rabbits in this world."

"Great," Renamon shuddered and shook her head. Then she glanced to the side as if something had caught her eye. She chuckled.

"What?" asked Rika.

"Terriermon says that perhaps we should take the newspaper editor hostage and surreptitiously take his place."

Rika shook her head. "Is nothing that I do going to be private to that bunny?"

"Only I don't know about it either," said Renamon. "I think our bond has finally stopped growing. Now there's nothing that we can keep from the other, we can pick up on the brainwaves of the other non-stop."

"What's he doing now?"

"The same as I am – walking home with his partner, but of course Suzie and Lopmon are there too."

"I don't know how you can stand it," said Rika. "It's be like living two lives at once."

"Not really," said Renamon. "It's like an extremely subconscious thing that you just know but don't really think about – like a random fact that know, like some rhinos have two horns and some have one, but is buried in your brain, ready to be called upon. It's a little like that, but perhaps slightly more pronounced."

"Fair enough," said Rika.

Isis the jackal was also there with them and he was bounding ahead, very much like an ordinary dog. He was sniffing at trees beside the road, and occasionally marking his territory. Renamon wondered what other dogs would make of the strange smell. Terriermon thought they'd chase their tails and panic. Lopmon thought that they'd just cover it up like any other dog.

As Rika rounded the gate and headed towards her house, Renamon momentarily paused and glanced down the street at the house that she had been imprisoned in with Terriermon. Goro's house – where it had all began. Goro had, unwittingly, started something that would save the world.

Of course, that didn't make it any less okay. But still...

"Rika," she said. Rika turned to look at her. "I be right back," she said. "There's something I want to do."

* * *

Terriermon's eyes widened as Renamon thought about the house and about what she was doing there. Lopmon immediately closed her mind to the two of them. She had also got wind of what was going on and what Renamon and Terriermon did in their private time was something she really did not want to know about.

Henry and Suzie walked along in relative silence, each with their partners perched on their heads. Suzie was chirping to Lopmon inside her own head, getting used to the fact that they could now communicate without using their mouths. Lopmon was trying to teach her how to close her mind so she could think about something she didn't want Lopmon to know, but Suzie was struggling with the concept. But, hey, she was seven. Just a little kid. She'd get there eventually.

Henry was contemplating a similar thing, why he couldn't communicate with his partner with his mind like his sister and his new girlfriend could. It did seem a little bit unfair to be excluded from this interesting thing, but he supposed that it has worked quite well so far without it. He didn't really need it.

But still...

_I can't really be part of this little group without the ability. It does make me feel excluded,_ he thought.

"Hmm? What? Momentai, Henry. You've got the biggest brain here. Perhaps you could invent a machine when you're older that would allow us to communicate through thought."

Henry started. Terriermon had heard that? But he hadn't realised it was thought, perhaps implying that his attention was elsewhere, probably on whatever Renamon was doing right now. No, he had to check.

_Can you hear this?_

"WAAARGH!" Yep, it had clicked that time.

"GOD DAMNIT! THAT'S THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK SOMEONE HAS SPOKEN IN MY MIND AND MADE ME JUMP! I'D QUITE TO KNOW WHO CAN AND WHO CAN'T!"

"Momentai," Henry grinned, a feeling of great satisfaction and confusion creeping into him. It was all good – it seemed he could now communicate with his partner with his mind, making him part of the "Super Six" in full. But how the hell as it come about. It was completely illogical – Terriermon had no powers of telepathy on his own. He was not magical like Renamon or angelic like Lopmon.

_Ah, forget it, Henry,_ came Terriermon's voice. _Nothing has to be logical when it comes to Digimon. If I were you I'd just take this as a gift handed to you on a platter._

Henry nodded, not noticing the same Digi-Gnome that had helped Kenta flit past behind him. His phone rang. He pulled it and answered it. "Hey Dad."

"**Henry, we've got a bit of a problem here. We're caught in the flood of people coming into the city. People are trying to rush and the authorities are trying to keep order, so we may be a little slow. We could be home soon or we could be home in a couple of hours."**

"Alright," said Henry. "I'll keep house shall I?"

"**Yes, you do that, son. Congratulations on defeating Ogudomon by the way."**

"Ah, think nothing of it. See you."

"**See you."**

"Dad says he might be late," said Henry as he hung up.

Lopmon and Suzie glanced at each other and grinned. Suzie looked up at Henry and said, "Okay then, but we want to do something. We'll be back soon, okay."

"Erm, alright," said Henry. Suzie could take herself now, he reasoned. She was growing up fast – she had to give her some freedom.

With a slash, Lopmon became Antylamon and she streaked away, carrying Suzie.

"What are they up to?" asked Henry.

"No idea. Lopmon's shut her mind," said Terriermon. "Ah well, we'll find out later."

And indeed they did, but it was Terriermon that found out first, largely because it involved Renamon. Perhaps Suzie and Lopmon had not quite grasped that they could not hide _anything_ from each other yet. Henry got a bout of confusion when Terriermon suddenly burst into hysterics for no obvious reason upon entry to their apartment.

* * *

The following day was mostly a catch up amongst the Tamers and their parents. Very little else happened, but once the local news was up and running again there was a great deal of conspiracy theories flying around as to how on Earth Tokyo could have rebuilt itself. None of them quite came near the actual one, except that the Tamers were somehow involved. All in all, it was a good day. Impmon and Haruhi even formed a sort of piece. You could say that Impmon's personality was winning nowadays, unlike when he had been a rogue Digimon wandering around.

As evening drew to a close, Henry and Terriermon were sitting on a bench in the park. The area was deserted, as all the children were spooked to go outside in case a Digimon appeared, despite the fact their houses would provide no protection at all.

Terriermon smirked to himself as he knew that Renamon was approaching behind him, along with Rika, Suzie and Lopmon. Suzie approached and put her hands over Terriermon's eyes. "Guess who?" she said.

"The toothfairy?" asked Terriermon. Suzie laughed and turned him around, her hands still over his eyes.

"I've got a surprise for you Terriermon," she said.

Beside him, Terriermon heard Henry say, "Whoa!" and he wasn't surprised – he knew exactly what the surprise was. Suzie removed her hands.

The sight was _still_ enough to make Terriermon's jaw drop. Renamon looked stunning in the flowing white wedding dress that Suzie had insisted she where, teaming up with Rika's mother in order to persuade her to do it. Terriermon knew that it had taken a good four hours to sway her, but eventually she had given in and allowed herself to be taken to try some on. Needless to say the owner of the shop had been shocked, and holes had been cut for her tail and the spikes on her shoulders, but that didn't differ from the effect at all.

"Wow," said Terriermon. "And that doesn't do it justice."

Renamon smiled sheepishly. "What do you think?"

"You're a vision," grinned Terriermon. "And I mean that."

"Picture time!" cheered Suzie, pulling a digital camera from her pocket.

"Hey," said Renamon. "You said nothing about a picture."

"Momentai, Rena," said Terriermon, reintroducing the pet name. "We are "married." All couples have their pictures taken here, although I should be in a tux."

"I don't think they make anything your size," laughed Rika, who found this whole thing amusing.

"Which is a shame," said Lopmon. "They didn't have any dresses my size either. I would have liked to have tried one on."

"Come on, Rena," said Terriermon, hopping onto her shoulder and giving Suzie a peace sign with his fingers. Renamon sighed and looked at the camera too. With a flash, Suzie took the picture, then giggled as she looked at it on the screen.

_You look amazing,_ said Terriermon.

_Well, I feel silly._

_You don't look silly. You should wear dresses more often._

Renamon winked at him. _Maybe when we're alone._

_Jeez, you think dirty._

_I know. Our lives are going to be one wild ride, especially with those _toys _I found in Goro's house._

Terriermon shuddered in anticipation. Fortunately no-one else noticed.

"I suppose our lives aren't exactly going to be normal are they?" asked Henry.

"Who wants normal?" said Rika. "I reckon we're gonna have one wild ride."

"But for now," said Lopmon. "Let's just enjoy what'll hopefully be at least a few months of peace."

"I'm all for that," said Terriermon.

The group turned and watched the setting sun, Terriermon hopping off Renamon's shoulder onto the back of the bench, Lopmon bounding up to join him. Henry sat back on the bench, Rika on one side and Suzie on the other. Renamon stood next to them. Terriermon glanced up at her and surreptitiously brought up one ear and used it to squeeze her butt.

Renamon smiled.

Lopmon rolled her eyes.

* * *

**THE END!**

* * *

But it's not over. Turn over to my other "fic" I just posted for more details.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I achieved 61 by the end of the last chapter that weren't my own, far more than I thought I would when I started out.

Here are the credits for my reviewers. First comes the number of reviews from top to bottom and those who gave me that number.

1 – NKC, Lord Pata, Eqgz, TimTah, Azure Neko, Berna45, Geekgirl, Marc Bailey

4 – Starowner, Bookworm Gal

8 – BornFromDarkness

12 – Tamara Caitlyn, fireangel08

13 – Rainbow35

Until next time, this is Fergus Flamacron signing off.


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